FateAcademy
by AthenoxSaber
Summary: Our main character, Athenox is a unique student starting his first day at Avalon Academy, a high school that trains students in the art of magecraft. He is a part of one of the seven special classes of mage, known as a Saber Mage. With a series of unusual occurrences, It is soon realized that he is far more unique than most other mages. Can he fit into this new world?
1. Chapter 1

Fate/Academy: Episode 1

*A vision in an unfamiliar desert, at an unknown time of day. Scene 0*

"What is this supposed to be and where am I?"

I speak out loud to the air in front of me as I hope for some kind of response. At first all I get is the sound of the rushing winds sifting across the sands which blurs out my vision and making it impossible to see anything. However the violently whipping sandstorm settles and a hill appears before me as if the storm itself urged me to approach it. I walk towards the hill with each step feeling more weighted than the previous. As I reach halfway up the hill the sands rush around me for a brief moment and leaving behind the image of what appears to be a shiny metallic length sticking out of the top of the hill. I reach the top and slowly approach the metallic object which upon inspection appears to be a golden sword with blue detailing and glowing bright. My hand starts to reach out to grab the sword but it is stopped by sight of a ghastly cloaked figure in front of me.

"Whoever is deemed worthy enough to pull this sword out of the ground shall be granted the power to rule and protect this land from the corrupt forces that dare try to threaten it. Think carefully however, because the sword will commit you to a path from which cannot be escaped by even death itself." The cloaked figure's voice booms and echoes across the empty sands.

I understand his words and attempt to withdraw the sword from the ground. However, the sword and the entire desert darken as my hand reaches the grip of the blade. The ground starts to give way beneath me and I seem to fall into a darkness.

"Behold the Dark Sword, Caliburn. A fate truly worse than death." The voice trails off as I start to lose consciousness.

*Our hero awakens in his bedroom not long after this dream with a stretched out yawn. Scene 1*

"Huh?" I look around in a dazed confusion for a second.

It was just a dream. I must just be really stressing out about the start of my high school preliminary training camp this week and more specifically about the official induction ceremony that happens today. Although it really isn't anything to be worried about after all it is just entering information into a database that signifies your current status as a mage and gives you security clearance into the school. I lean over to my alarm clock that reads 5:00 in the morning. Only an hour until I have to get up. Even if I could go back to sleep within that time, there is no way I am taking the risk of oversleeping. I manage to drag myself out of bed and walk over to my closet, grab a bag of laundered clothes on the door handle, and shuffle straight into the bathroom. By the time I walk out of the bathroom, I can hear my mom calling from downstairs to wake me up.

"Sweetie, it is time to wake up. I left your new uniform clothes hanging out for you on your closet door and don't forget that we have to be at Avalon Academy by 9:30 for check in so we need to be ready to leave by 7:30 if we want to make it on time." By the time she finished her sentence I had already made it downstairs.

"I know mom, which is why I am already ready." My mom looks at me from the kitchen before gasping with excitement.

"Oh my goodness! I knew the uniform would look great on you." She exclaims with a joyous squeal to end her statement.

"Honestly I don't know if I would call this a uniform. I mean with I can almost guarantee that no one will be dressed like me. Do you think they will even let me in the door with these markings?" I ask her.

"Yes I do, because I already called the university to make sure and they said that those insignias will show the others just how qualified you are to be there, especially that one." She points at the insignia inscribed on the right shoulder of my shirt.

"Not to mention your my son and if they do not know what level of success that entails then they are about to find out." She smiles at me.

"Yeah I guess you are right." I agree with her.

"Now hurry up and eat your breakfast" She runs over to the table and lowers a plate in front of me.

"Thank you very much. Say is Pops going to be joining us today?"

"Unfortunately he can't. You know how he gets after his night jobs. It is a miracle to even get him awake by noon."

"Oh man, I feel so bad that he has to work so hard right now because of my truly worthless father in Undercity."

"Now hold on. Don't ruin this perfect day by mentioning his name. Besides, your real father even if not by blood, loves working so hard if it is for the betterment of your future and it is not like he will have to work forever. He just has to work to pay for the schools upfront cost, but yes I do agree that a little more financial support from your family down south would have been much appreciated. However due to the fact that they do not see the benefit of your attendance at Avalon, we will have to make do without them. Now like I said before, please finish your breakfast. I think we should leave early in case of traffic or long lines." She is right.

This is going to be my first day as a high school level mage and I can't let anything ruin my day.

*Approaching the front gates of Avalon High School Academy, located in central Avalon City. More specifically in the car of our hero's mother within the parking garage outside. Scene 2.*

"I certainly did make the right call about leaving early. There are a lot of cars parked so finding a spot is going to be difficult and we still have walk from the parking lot to the front gates. I mean seriously why put the lot so far out from the school."

"Well mom, I don't think they intend for a lot of students to be picked up and dropped off on a daily basis."

"I am aware of the rigorous living schedule of being an academy mage. Just because I went to the Enreagent Academy in the west for training a long time ago, does not make me any less aware of how it works. I am just saying it would be a whole lot better if someone didn't act all entitled like they deserve two parking spaces!" She starts shouting colorful profanities out the window at the official holy council escort vehicle that just took an open parking space in front of her.

It is very true that my mom is also a combat mage just like me, except she is what's known as a berserker class mage, which is one of the seven mage classes. Berserker, Saber, Assassin, Caster, Lancer, Rider, and Archer. They are distinguishable by their method of operating in combat and a few key physical and mental traits. My mom being a berserker mage means that she is very short tempered and physically very strong, however unlike most berserkers she usually only goes into a blind rage when she is protecting something or someone she cares about. In fact it has earned her the nickname of the "Wrathful Mother". She doesn't ever really explain what specifically earned her that nickname but if I had to guess I would say there were a lot of innocent souls in trouble and a lot of dead bodies as a result.

"Hey, are you alive back there? We have to go get checked in remember?" She waves her hand in front of my face to get my attention.

"Oh. Yeah sorry I was just thinking."

I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car. We start our long trek to the front gates of the school as the morning sun beats down and the time on my watch ticks 9:15, which means that we somehow managed to spend just about a full hour trying to find a parking space. We reach a kiosk at the front gate with a sign on it that says "incoming freshman check in here!" in big multi colored letters. A peppy young girl approaches the front of the kiosk wearing a blue oxford style button up shirt with the words "Avalon Academy Orientation Staff" prominently displayed on a name-tag in the upper left corner of the shirt.

"Hello! You are here for orientation check-ins right?" The very cheerful girl says. Something is really off about her but I can't quite tell what it is. I doubt it is really something to be concerned over.

"Yes we are."

"Well first I need to see your official enrollment papers that the school sent you over the summer."

"Here. I have them right here." My mom hands papers from out of her purse over to the girl.

"Ok. Athenox, you are going to want to go to the Saber dormitories which are located in the first tower on the right. You have been assigned to room 728-D on the seventh floor in the last bedroom slot. This key-card will be required entrance to the school, certain buildings on campus, your dormitory and room, as well as your mailbox. Oh and don't worry about how blank it looks know. It will be updated after today's opening ceremonies" She hands over an almost blank key-card with a strange red logo on it.

"You should go configure your room and check it out, and be back in the cafeteria, which is on the first floor of the main building, by 10:30 for the official opening ceremony and parent dismissal." She rushes instructions at me. I almost didn't hear them because I was so focused on looking at the card. The red logo on it looks very familiar but I am unsure how. I had to have seen it somewhere else.

*Our hero continues to ponder the card as he and his mom make their way to the Saber dormitory. Scene 3.*

Even as we walk towards the dorm, my mind furiously struggles to find a solution. I only stop looking at the card when we get out of the elevator and make it down the hallway.

"Well this room says that it is 728." Mom says.

We walk inside to the open common area. It isn't anything too fancy. It just has a small kitchen, two couches around a table, a display screen on the wall in front of the couches, and three doors on both sides of the room. Currently the two doors in the middle on both sides are open and lead into bathrooms. The other four doors are marked with the letters A – D.

"Here it is. Room 728-D." I approach the door and use the keycard, a bright flash emerges out of the seams of the door before I can open it. Everything from my room at home is here in the exact same position.

"Even though they told us how it works, it is still amazing. The fact that Avalon Academy can use magic technology to outline the room and use quantum positioning to allow the room to potentially be in two different locations at once and only being present in the location observed or selected by the user. It is a feat that currently is somehow only possible in this city, but they are not sure why yet." I further explain

"Yeah it is really impressive. Especially considering the alternative would be generic, uniform, and mass-produced furniture that would not benefit any individual student too well."

"And not to mention, it allows you to personalize." My mom says.

She has a valid point. My room has a lot of customized features that are specifically designed to benefit my set of abilities, as well as being themed around the things I like. Examples of this are the two crossed iron training swords on the wall with additional swords on racks, the workbench with magical tools, my computer, and my bed setup to help in faster recovery of magic for dark magic users during a sleep state. Not to mention the bed alone is just really comfortable to begin with. It is a mages job to optimize their environment to better help the development of their magic, which is why all of this stuff is necessary.

"Say mom, what time is it?"

"It is just after 10:00." She exclaims right after looking down at her watch.

"Do you think we need to start heading down there now? I mean if finding a seat is going to be like finding a parking space, then it can't hurt."

"Alight then, let us head that way."

*Inside the Main building on the first floor in cafeteria. Groups of what appears to be new incoming freshmen and their parents are all sitting at tables across the large cafeteria. Our hero and parent are attempting to navigate the sea of tables for a place to sit. Scene 4.*

"Oh come on! Not all of you can be saving seats for the rest of your table. Your inability to want to meet new people should not supersede making sure everyone has a place to sit." I shout out across the cafeteria.

This is insane. For some reason they are all giving the same answer. It is beyond simple coincidence. It might mean they know who I am, or even worse if they know who my mother is. That would be impossible since there has been no formal form of introductions and any students information isn't uploaded into the school database until the induction ceremony which takes place directly after this. If any of these people can recognize me, then they would have to be pretty high up in any of the factions or they are just going off of misinterpreted rumors. Although if it is rumors then that would definitely explain the reactions.

"Hey over here!" An almost booming voice shouts across the room. I turn my head to find a boy who looks roughly my age and his parents seated at a table with two open spots. I grab my mom and we walk over at the table and sit down.

"Thank you very much for not being rude, unlike everybody else in this room." I bow my head graciously to the student and his parents.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. I really do not understand why no one else would let you sit with them."

"I honestly do not know either. Excuse me I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Athenox and this is my mom."

"It is nice to meet you. My name is Devin and these are my parents, and that is my little brother." Devin is wearing a red uniform shirt with matching red glasses and a pair of indigo blue jeans. His hair is short and brown, with red eyes but whether or not that is relevant is uncertain. The members of both parties officially introduce each member before being interrupted by a silencing "Hello" on a microphone.

"Thank you, now if we could get started. It would be much appreciated." The room quiets as a man on a platform in the center of a classroom continues speaking over the microphone.

"My name is Mr. Ambronensis, but you may call me Mr. Ambro for short. I am the current Principal Headmaster here at Avalon Academy, and on behalf of all of the faculty I would like to thank the parents for being here today. It is because of all you do to guide and nurture your kids that allows them to be developed enough to seek out this school to further master their abilities. I want to also thank the new students for wanting to be a part of this bright future, in which they do their families proud by seeking to grow the culmination of their ancestor's magic and give us hope for the future. It is also important that we have a new generation to stand against and protect others from the corrupted threats of this world. I do indeed hope that this class accomplishes a great deal in their time here, and when I speak to this group of parents at graduation I can speak about all of the wonderful things they have done. On a less sentimental and awkward note considering you all have only just meant me and graduation is probably the furthest thing from your minds right now. I will give you an outline of how the rest of the day is going to happen for the students. First we will serve lunch, and then at about 11:30 we will let all of the parents and family members say goodbye to their children before we split them into staff lead groups for the induction process which will take place upstairs in the Auditorium on the 3rd floor. Then after we conclude the induction ceremony which will be 1:00, we will send the groups to one of the seven different arenas we have setup for their first mage class test. And students a helpful word of advice. While we normally allow students to keep their phantasm weapon actively summoned on campus, for this first week when we do not have all of your official stats on record we ask that you avoid making any reckless and idiotic decisions. That is all." He lowers the microphone and walks off of the stage as carts full of food are being pushed by waiters in Avalon Academy Staff shirts just like the girl at the front desk.

"So that is the principal? He seems like a really interesting person." Devin says.

"I don't know what to make of him yet. Say Devin, they said after the induction ceremony that we are going to have our first mage class test right? How do you think they are going to order the groups that go to a specific class test first?" I ask Devin.

"If I had to guess, then I would probably say that they are going to use the simplest approach. Sort the groups by their primary class, and then have those groups take the first class test based on those classes. That way the first results to be entered into the system would be the best, given that the first results would be of the student's primary class. I assume that they do this to prioritize schedules." Devin responds.

"Now Athenox! You don't have to be so focused on the events this week. You are allowed to have a little fun, and I think it is beneficial you aren't always so buried in studies and combat." My mom tells me.

"I know that and I will. I just thought it would be nice to have a second opinion on what to expect. Especially from another Saber class mage." I explain to my mom.

"Oh it's no big. Wait, how did you figure out I was a Saber class mage? We aren't really supposed to have anyone else's information until after the induction ceremony at the earliest." He asks in shock at the information I had found out.

"Well a few things gave it away. The first was the way you called us out to sit over here which if nothing else told me that you weren't a Caster. Second was your hands and arms, because of the way you used them. When you talked you raise them both significantly higher than average, which if I had to guess if a reflex from having to block with two bladed weapons in combat so in most known cases I would rule out Archer and Lancer. That combined with the scars on your arms from sparring and the fact that you don't even closely smell like a spirit animal eliminates Rider as a primary class. The precision of those scars indicates that you are extremely relentless in training by being dedicated to mastering a sword technique and do not give up after three tries tells me that you are not a Berserker." I explain to Devin.

"Wow you are really good. You could tell all that just by looking at me and from there figure out that I mentally and physical matched a Saber mage? Is that like your magic ability or something?"

"I only used observations and personal experience to confirm the first biggest tell. Which was looking at the emblems on your uniform shirt. They are very unique to apprentice students of fire faction sword trainers."

"So your kid is like that too I suppose? I thought Devin was a rare breed of child." Devin's mom asks my mom.

"Nothing rare about it. It seems as if this generation likes to get worked up and serious over normal everyday life. Never stopping to enjoy their youth because of how intent they are to fight nothing. They do not realize how good they have got it. In our days there was a lot of fighting and war with no real answers at the end. However even at the worst of our struggles I doubt it compares to the generations before us or even the challenges of the time of the seven founding mages." My mom continues to converse about the old days with Devin's mom.

A waiter comes by with a cart and drops off plates of food.

"Even though it is a little early to be having lunch, we do have a lot going on today so they probably don't want to have to stop in the middle of the tests." As he finishes his sentence we both start to actively dig into our food. By the time we our done my watch reads 11:25.

"It looks like it's about the time that they are going to start calling your groups. Which means that we should get going." My mom smiles and nods at Devin's family as everyone around the room gets up from their tables.

"This was nice Devin. It makes me feel so much better knowing that I can leave you here because you have already made a friend on the first day." Devin's mother tells him as they hug goodbye.

"I hope you two don't get into too much trouble. And Athenox, if you need anything you know you can call me and I will answer." My mom hugs me goodbye.

"Don't worry. I will be fine. Just make sure that you and dad take care."

"We will. I promise." We wave at each other as Devin's family and my mom leave the cafeteria.

It is not long after before all of the students in the cafeteria are called into seven different groups. When they call for the Saber group, Devin and I get in line together. Now for what is going to potentially the most nerve racking part of my day. The induction ceremony.

*The Saber group along with the other groups head out of the cafeteria to the Auditorium on the 3rd floor. They each take up a different section of seats in the Auditorium. Scene 5.*

"Ok students. This is going to be our induction ceremony. It is very simple and should not scare you. The purpose of these initial rankings is to get an accurate assessment of what specific areas you need development in and it also serves to add you into the schools database for security and tracking purposes. One by one we will call you up from your groups. You will then come down to your assigned station. From there, you will place your hands on the preplaced practice phantasm measuring devices on the floor. You need to channel your mana as if you were summoning your phantasm weapon. It is also critical that you channel as much as you can until you start feeling feedback on the spell, because while you want to give the most accurate readings it is important that you don't overload or empower them because these are not made for that and will definitely break. We will cover both empowering and overloading in your classes later in the semester." A lady who looks like some kind of administration instructs us on how to perform the induction ceremony.

"Athenox, just out of curiosity. Do you know what overloading is? I have never really heard of it before." Devin asks me.

"It is what happens when you overflow a noble phantasm with your magic energy. It essentially becomes a pressurized magic energy bomb that becomes unstable and blows up, due to the limited capacity of each phantasm weapon. Overloading can in severe cases can also lead the over draining of mana, which can physically harm the mage if the amount of mana attempted to be put into the weapon over exceeds the total amount of mana the mage has in their body " I explain.

"That sounds really bad, especially considering little kids are able to summon phantasm weapons."

"And in most cases it would be, if it weren't for the fact that mages are limited on their total magic energy from which they can use. Also mages can suffer from exhaustion from overusing mana within their bodies and it would be impossible in most conditions to generate magic energy fast enough to keep a constant supply in your phantasm weapon, and even attempting would cause a high amount of feedback in a mages body that would cause you to go numb and blackout before you could really cause harm. Plus through usage of the weapon excess magical energy that was stored is used up."

"So it seems as if there are a lot of natural inhibitors to prevent that from happening easily. Then why would he have to tell us?"

"These inhibitors are not foolproof and it is still possible to override them. If you trained hard enough or had a unique set of abilities, then you could increase your natural tolerance and make it possible to use and still remain standing. Some fighters even use overloading as a combat strategy to destroy a group of enemies around them, even at the cost of their own lives. Typically a last ditch effort though. The point is it would be really inconvenient if either on purpose or accidental someone managed to cause an explosion, especially right before our first mage class test."

"I don't know. I think it would be pretty funny to see a few idiots blow up today, especially a Caster. They just can't help themselves." A boy sitting on the other side of Devin interjects with a chuckle. He is wearing a white uniform shirt, light blue jeans and has shortcut red hair.

"No not really considering it could kill them."

"Oh please! Anyone stupid enough to get themselves killed by that deserves it." This kid says with an arrogance in his voice.

I just can't stand it. His obvious ability to shrug off an innocent person getting killed as humorous entertainment.

"Careful. It is statements like those that get your full identity found out before you can even have a chance to grab that phantasm on stage and officially enter yourself into the academy. Heaven forbid you get a target on your back on the first day. It would be a shame to have to win a fight so easily." I explain to him.

"Ha that's tough talk coming from a lowlife nobody who I have never heard of before in my life. If you were truly someone important, then I would have already recognized you and you would have already recognized me. However since neither seems to be the case you are probably some E ranked wash up who had their mom send the academy a letter about how badly you want to become a mage so you can try to follow your hopes and dreams of saving the world from the corruption once and for all, and become the "big hero". Unfortunately it won't happen, because even if you didn't look like a failure of a mage there would still be no point in it. Everyone knows that the corruption have been dormant for almost a million years, so no one really cares if you kill a few weak ones on the outskirts of town. It won't make you a hero." As he talks, his words are slowly pushing me over a ledge.

I am becoming irritated beyond all measure. To the point where I want to knock his lights out, but the principal did say not to do anything reckless.

"While we do appreciate your concern, it is unlikely that anyone is going to die from overloading. Thanks to the magic core of the school, any damage a mage receives in this room will be reduced to a mere push. And you should have both been instructed very clearly on the school rules. You are not to discuss anything about your abilities or your identity at least until after the induction ceremony. The school does not want to be responsible for whatever consequences come from others knowing who you are until we have you safely in our custody as students. Then whatever bad blood you have becomes irrelevant compared to your training. Anyway, the reason I had come over here is because we have been calling your name for the past five minutes. Clearly you weren't listening, but we don't have all day." She points to me and urges me to stand up from my seat and walk down to the phantasm device on stage.

The phantasm device looks like a sword coming out of the ground. It almost looks like my weapon, but it isn't. They use a very specific model of sword that is very common among phantasm weapon users, in order to gauge the worthiness of a mages abilities. As soon as she readies me, I reach out my hands and start to channel the mana within my hands as I grab the handle of the sword and summon my weapon. It appears from the physical form of the preplaced measurement device. It appears with a black glow. Now that I look at it, the model sword does look near exactly like mine. A screen display above shows the name that I have been seeing in my dreams for the past week with an increasing amount of detail, along with all of my other initial rankings and my name.

"That was a very well performed summon. There aren't many who can summon a weapon in at 95% structural integrity, even less who can do it at such a young age. It is quite impressive, even if the weapon itself isn't rated high in terms of attack power. Athenox Emiya, I do look forward to seeing more great things from you as the year progresses. You may now head back to your seat." I walk off of the stage as she calls the next student on stage. This next student of course is Devin. His full name is Devin El-Melloi, he is as I figured the son of the High Lord of the Burning Ember faction, which specializes in fire magic. His phantasm weapons are the Twin blades of the Conqueror, which explains why he was training with that blocking stance that left scars on his arms.

"The Dark Sword Caliburn? What kind of a name is that for a phantasm weapon? It doesn't even sound cool. It sounds like a cheap knock off of Excalibur. I couldn't even see it. Are you hiding it out of embarrassment? Plus it is Rank C, how can you call yourself a Saber mage with such a weak sword?" The irritating voice from earlier calls out from his seat as he looks at his watch and reads the newly posted stats.

"Hey, other troublemaker, get down here and give us something that proves that you have a right to make fun of other people." The teacher calls him on stage.

"Fine, then let me show you what a real phantasm weapon looks like." He walks up to the stage, and upon confirmation of the teacher he grabs to device and summons his weapon. Upon the completion of the summoning, a bright flash of light is emitted from a sword and shield that are Rank A, and his name is Luke Matou. As I figured he is one of the sons of a high ranking family within the Holy Council faction. He waves his sword around to show it off.

"Thank you for the attempted display, but that summoning was far from perfect, and you almost overloaded the device in the process. Maybe if you could not be so reckless next time. Now get off the stage. Next!" The teacher says to him as she is irritated and calls out the next student.

"Well since he wants to make it a competition, then I will have to show him what a real phantasm looks like." A new but familiar voice exclaims as he gets up from the end of the row of seats and walks up to the stage.

Whoever he is, he has a smirk on his face that can clearly display the amount of overconfidence in which he has in himself. The voice is one I have heard before. He walks up to the device, places one hand on the device, and in a matter of seconds summons his weapon.

"A 93% integrity summon on a Rank EX phantasm weapon is nearly impossible, keep up the good work Einzbern." As soon as she said that I knew who the new voice of arrogance was.

Jason von Einzbern. Son of the leader of the Hallow faction within Undercity who is constantly fighting against my father for controlling position of Undercity. His phantasm is known as Ea, the gate key to Babylon. It is a Rank EX sword, which is the highest rating phantasm weapon a mage can attain. It is an overwhelming force of power. I know because I fought against it many times growing up in Undercity. We used to go to the same school growing up, and we even used to be friends until one day he started acting different. I wouldn't have even remembered him had it not been for his weapon.

"Man that guy makes all of us look bad compared to him. It isn't often that you see an EX ranked phantasm." Devin says in shock.

"It is quite a common occurrence for me. Most of the mages in Justice Point carry around EX ranked weapons." Luke proudly gloats in an attempt to make himself sound cooler than he actually is.

"Then the obvious question is why don't you carry around a Rank EX? It couldn't possibly be something wrong with your abilities? Or is it actually because there are currently only around 1300 in the whole world who can summon an EX ranked phantasm? While it is true that a large population of them are gathered in the Holy Council capital city, they are not the majority populous. In fact compared to other factions, they don't even hold the most." I taunt him mostly for the fun of it in order to disprove his exaggeration.

"I am not going to take this from a C ranked looser." He turns around in his chair to face away from me, because he has no actionable defense for his lie. The rest of the induction ceremony goes by pretty fast, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be.

A few other phantasm weapons did stick out from the rest, certainly I will have to see how they operate close up. Our first class tests are up next, and I just hope that it isn't student duels yet.

*The groups are lead upstairs into the arenas, where each group approaches a different arena. This is the location where the mage class tests are taking place. Scene 6.*

"Saber group come right this way to Arena 1, Archer group to Arena 2, Rider to Arena 3, Assassin to Arena 4, Berserker to Arena 5, Lancer to Arena 6, and Caster to Arena 7. The rules of the test will be explained by a teacher on your platform." Our principal Mr. Ambro announces from an arena in the center.

When our group walks to the designated arena, a teacher stands at the center of the platform. She is wearing a black business suit with a purple tie and a smile on her face like she is ready for us.

"Hello! My name is Mrs. Lanslac, but since I will probably be seeing a lot of you and to distinct me from my husband Mr. Lanslac who some of you might be seeing tomorrow, you may call me Mrs. for short. I will be giving you all the Saber class test today. Now if you could all please gather in the center ring of the arena, we will await for the arena transformation." She says as she looks down to check her watch.

Upon further inspection, her suit has a cleanly placed purple sigil on her shoulder and the watch she was checking is also purple. It must be her sub faction color, but I have never heard of any group aside from poison users in the nature faction and they don't typically wear black suits and they also aren't known for being Saber class mages, but I will probably have to wait until our official classes next Monday to get a better understanding.

"Arena transformations initiated. Begin Empowering the Bounded Reality Marbles." A voice comes over an intercom within the complex.

"Understood." Mrs. Lanslac speaks into an earpiece before mouthing out words that appear to be a spell. Bright flashes of light seem to engulf the seven arenas and expand all the way to the ceiling, rendering anything else outside of the center of the arena that we are standing in not visible. When the light fades, and leaves behind a ring of training dummies and various setups of practice weapons, and each training dummy is surrounded by dividing walls.

"Ok, find a station that matches your phantasm weapon setup. We set them up according to your entrance information, so there should be one for everyone. This test will occur in phases, and each phases will get more and more difficult as they progress. When I say start, you should pick up the weapons at your stations and swing at the targets. These are also measurement device weapons that will test your combat technique and abilities, however in this first phase you should not summon them into your phantasms yet. This is so we can get an idea of your fighting style." We all approach our stations and pick the weapons up. The weapons look almost like replicas of our phantasm weapons. Mine is a two-handed sword again looks identical to Dark Caliburn, which is still weird because I have yet to understand the reason for the resemblance.

"Weapons ready on my countdown. 3…2…1… Go!" As soon as she says that I start in on the target with series of strikes and focus only on the target in front of me.

It is critical not to let anything else going on interfere with my results, because I want them to be accurate enough so I can best improve from where I am now. Which is why I felt it so necessary to attend this school over any other combat high. Within a few minutes, I start to get a weird feeling about the dummies. She said that this test was in phases that got progressively harder. It is almost like I can sense magic building up in them. There has to be something special about them. As I finish the though I hear a chain of at least 5 thuds from around the arena. I don't quite know why yet but I have to be prepared to deflect. Within the same second that I have my sword in position, I am immediately countered by a blade. When I fully realize the situation I see the dummy wielding a sword in front of me, currently locked in with my practice sword.

"Indeed as most of you have realized, these are not just normal training dummies. They are reactive training dummies." Mrs. Lanslac exclaims to the group. I need to break this standoff so I do not run out of energy trying to overpower him.

I push out of the lock and evade backwards. The dummy underestimates the distance of the evasion and slams down in an attempt to try and knock me out, but misses and gets the sword stuck in the ground from the amount of force in the attack. I rush in and kick the sword out of the dummy's hand. While he is stunned I take a large swing at his head which knocks him on his back and leaves him motionless. If they are reactive, then how? I would have felt it before if they were preloaded with mana, and even if they were concealed then there is no way for the concealment to gradually decrease like that. Well at least not one that I am currently aware of. Unless, it was able to…. Before I can finish my sentence I am sliced across my back. When I turn around to face the attacker, I am shocked because I was attacked by myself. A mirror image stands before me with an identical sword in hand. It doesn't make any sense.

"So you are starting to notice the final phase of the test. In the beginning we had you attack a stationary target to test all of your parameters without interference, then we had the dummy automate and adapt to your abilities based off the first phase of information to see how you react to a target that is fighting back. Now we are using that full set of data to reconstruct and match your physical capabilities to give us a third set of data that tells us how you react to your own abilities, through what is essentially a dummy clone." Mrs. Lanslac announces.

If they are clones then it would be fair to assume that they are structured around the attacks that they received, meaning that they know our parameters based on the fighting style we used against them initially. The only thing I don't fully understand is how they absorbed this information. Sure there are electronic sensors that can detect physical impact force and speed, as well as motion tracking sensors that could see our strikes, but considering myself and probably everyone else are using magic enhancements to increase our striking force in some form it would be nearly impossible for standard technology to keep up and it wouldn't be as accurate. So if they are using magic sensors, then the sensors would have to have to have already been charged with magical energy. However when the dummies first appeared, there was no detectable amounts of magic energy in them and they only seemed to build up over time. That means the only possible thing that can put all of these factors together would be if… They are void magic sensors, but that is rare beyond any measure. Currently there are not a lot of void magic users in existence and if I had to put a number on it I would say around 100 or 200. I only know this because the ones that do exist are registered as a sub faction of the dark faction. Well even if it isn't void, then it still has to be some kind of draining device that absorbs and analyzes the magical input pattern of attacks it receives

"So it is a magic siphon sensor, right?" I ask our instructor, Mrs. Lanslac.

"I am surprised that you could figure it out at all." Mrs. Lanslac responds.

"And if you know that then I assume that you must have some idea how to defeat it?" She asks back.

It will know every move I could make and how I could make it in the stance in which I attacked in. The best strategy would be to use a different fighting stance against it, one that it would be unable to predict due to its unfamiliarity with style I had been using. No one else seems to have heard me, due to the current fact that they are technically a little distracted by themselves at the moment. Good, because I don't want them to know my full capabilities yet. Especially if student duels have a chance of becoming a threat at all this week. I want to keep my advantage. Without the rest of the group noticing, I change my fighting stance. I keep my right hand gripped to the sword and pull my arm back slightly. I release my left hand from the sword to keep my left arm extended almost as if I were casting a spell with it. This allows me use the free arm to channel and line up my vision, and my right arm to swing faster now that it is unimpeded by my left arm. I rush after the dummy, and striking even though he is able to block them. I can tell that the dummy is having trouble keeping up with this stance. My ability to swing faster leaves him very little offensive options. He can't attack fast because of the air drag created from both of his arms, plus the number of motions you can perform with your hands together is very limited so I can see the pattern as I had performed it earlier. Alternating between left and right, finishing with a downward or upward strike. More often a downward than upward due to downward strikes being less physically draining. He is eventually faltering just as I would, and that is when I catch his blade and begin to push forward, still facing whatever resistance he has left. This would have been nearly impossible to due at the beginning of the fight when he had full strength, because under normal circumstances it is not possible to be able to win with cross guards interlocked while wielding a blade in a one handed stance against someone using a two handed stance. However this dummy clone doesn't have as much endurance as I do, which allows me to twist the blade upwards and send him staggering back far enough for me to a full spin and use the butt end of my blade to disarm him. Then retracting my left arm back, I generate a punch that connects with his face and knocks the dummy unconscious. The punch seemed to have cracked the dummy's head open, causing liquefied mana to ooze out and return his appearance to its initial state.

*End of Episode 1.*


	2. Chapter 2

Fate/Academy: Episode 2

*Athenox is still in the arena after having just defeated the training dummy. Scene 1.*

"Wow, it seems as if they might need to make stronger dummies in case you ever have to fight one again. Congratulations Athenox, it seems has if you are the first one to pass the test today. You are done for the day, but you may stay and watch the remainder of the tests to see if they figure it out within a reasonable time frame. That would of course be before they are knocked unconscious." Mrs. Lanslac laughs and smiles a little bit before she walks around to observe another section of students.

I take a seat at a section of seats that must have formed while we were fighting. I look around and watch as a few have started to figure out how to defeat themselves in combat. Although Devin seems to be having some difficulty. He clearly has figured out that he has to stance switch, but he is having issues as he tries to reverse wield one of his swords like a knife. He is can manage to block pretty well, but can't seem to maneuver his attacks to catch the dummy off guard. If he could surprise the dummy with a core punch or manage to create an opening by disarming, then he could deliver a series of quick and devastating strikes that would incapacitate the dummy. However he like most of the other people in the group are struggling because they are forced into using a stance that they haven't properly trained with. The Einzbern kid is switching from properly trained rapier sword attacks to using the ranged projectile strikes of his weapon, which is mostly throwing the dummy off enough for him to destroy it. The next few people to finish after me are of course Einzbern and then that Matou kid. They walk over and take seats in my row.

"Oh please there is no way that you two were able to get done with the test before me. I doubt you even did as well." Matou says sure of himself.

"You have the nerve to think otherwise of me? Wielder of the EX ranked sword, Ea. I must say though, a trick like that in the middle of a combat test is a way to determine who is a superior mage compared to all of the other weaklings." Einzbern exclaims.

"I think it is a cheap shot, and an inaccurate way to test our combat abilities. Forcing us to alter our fighting style to defeat an opponent. Fighting styles we have spent all of our lives developing and perfecting. If they want to test us why don't they just do something simpler like have us fight against similar targets?" Matou complains.

"That wouldn't be quite as accurate, at least in figuring out details about our specific abilities. What they did was actually pretty smart. Using the initial data to create more complex target dummies that could better assess our abilities and force us to fully analyze our respective fighting style to find weaknesses in it, and then take advantages of those weaknesses to destroy the target. Gauging the level of success against your own fighting style to rate it. I think it is beneficial." I try to provide him with a valid reason for the test to put an end to his whining.

"Please, I do not have to hear this from a lowlife plebeian who is a sorry excuse for a mage. I think that you gave up because it was too much for you to handle. That's the only reason you were over here before us. It was too hard for you wasn't it?" Matou decides to make assumptions about me even though he hasn't even actually seen me fight.

I can almost tell where this is going to end up, but let's play it out to see if we can avoid it.

"So earlier you said that you didn't know who I was so there was no way for me to know who you were, right? Well of course I had noticed beforehand that you are of the holy council faction, and I even noticed that you are of the Matou family, one of the top five families in your faction, who are formerly a widely known family of justices within the faction. I even know that your family used to be the second family of the faction until a certain point in time. And finally, I know that you are a part of a group of self-entitled brats who think that they can just do whatever they want because they were chosen as the elite by their faction, as is proven by the fact that your security detail took pleasure in stealing a parking space from my mom this morning and had I not been in the car would have resulted in their serious injury at the least." I respond back to him in an attempt to throw him off enough to prevent him from pursuing further.

Maybe adding the part about my mother was not the best idea. Anything that would have been able to stop a fight will be rendered useless if he starts talking about her.

"That sounded like a threat. I have never taken threats too lightly, but this I may have to make an exception for. Your mother? What was she going to give them a stern talking to? If you had a single shred of dignity, you would at least threaten people yourself. Not that you would be able to do much to me." Matou burst out in laughter He clearly has no idea who me or my mother are and at this point I no longer care. He is going to be shown how to properly respect others.

Einzbern hasn't said anything in a while, and I suspect it is because he remembers me, or never forgot in the first place.

"Fine, if that is how you want to play it. When you are on the top it becomes very easy to forget everything beneath you and cast judgement on it all. The principal said not to do anything stupid or reckless but fighting you would be the smartest decision I have made in my life." I boldly state my claim to Luke.

"Honestly, I was hoping that you would say that." More people are getting done with their tests and coming over here, even Devin.

That is good because it will stop the fight from happening right now.

"Well it doesn't look like a good time right now but aren't the arenas open after school right, Mrs. Lanslac?" Einzbern exclaims as our instructor approaches.

"I have seen a fight coming all day, and you are right. We are not fighting during class time, but if you do feel the need. The arenas are open after school for student practice, and this week none of them are reserved for student organizations yet. Since you are now students, then you can reserve one." Mrs. Lanslac says.

I can't say that most of the academies are as accepting of unapproved student combat, but they would have to see it as an eventuality at a school that has such a diverse group of people that come from all backgrounds. Those opinions could clash at any moment, which is why they insist on keeping student identities a secret until official solutions like this can be used.

"I guess it can't be helped. We will have to fight later today. Be there at 2:30 so I can make you eat those words." Matou says as he loves to hear the sound of his own voice.

"I plan on being there." The crowd looks shocked. Although more out of eagerness than concern.

They all were probably waiting for an inevitable fight on the first day of school and I am sure they didn't really care who. The more concerning part of the situation is that Mrs. Lanslac has a smirk on her face for some reason that I can't figure out. It is still weird for a teacher to be in support of such aggressive counseling methods.

"Okay class, your results of your first test will be posted by the end of the day. Throughout the week we will have informational booths at each of the campus facilities so you can look into whatever interests you. Our library, armory, and student organizations are all located in the sublevels below the cafeteria which will be serving dinner from 2-7 pm. However after today's events, you could always go to your dorms and crash. There are restaurants in each of the dorms, and from what I hear the Saber's Grill is having a special introduction meeting dinner at 7 pm. Also please be safe on campus. Class is dismissed." While we were listening to her we had no idea that the seven arenas seem to have returned to their initial design and position within the complex.

As the groups flood out of the complex, it is very clear that most of them are going back to their dorms having been physically exhausted by their tests and whatever twists they may have held. I catch an elevator and decide to head to the first floor because it is closer to anything I may want to do than the fourth floor is. When I leave the elevator on the first floor, I run into Devin.

"Hey Devin, what is that in your hand?" I ask him.

"It's a flyer about your fight today with Luke. It is also currently on the front page of both the Saber forums and the school forums themselves. Here see." He shows me the flyer in his hands. It has my portrait on one half of the page and Luke's on the other. It lists all of our currently known attributes, and the time and location of the fight.

"People really want to see a fight that badly? It surprises me that the school is even on board with it. It isn't even an official fight. The only thing I know for sure is that I am going to teach him a valuable lesson."

"Actually about that whole unofficial fight thing. Mrs. Lanslac approved it shortly after class was dismissed." Devin tells me.

"News must really travel fast around here, considering that this fight was only decided not 15 minutes ago."

"So since you have about an hour of free time before the fight what are you going to do?" Devin asks me.

"I hadn't decided but I was either going to check out the student organizations on sublevel 1 or the armory on sublevel 2."

"I would do the armory first, because they are going to dismiss us from class tests early on Friday to check out the school organizations." Devin tells me.

"Ok sounds like a great idea. Do you want to come with?" I ask Devin.

"Sure can't hurt." We turn back into the elevator and go to sublevel 2 where the armory is.

Upon exiting the elevator we are amazed by the sight. A room full of heavy machining equipment and tools, some that I haven't even seen before. Currently there is only one person already here in the armory. He is sitting at a workbench near the center of the room. He is working on a bow, which seems to have a golden wood exterior with a smooth curvature. He has a variety of tools and pieces scattered across the table. He seems to be distracted because he almost doesn't notice us until he brings out a blowtorch from one of the side drawers, when he looks up in surprise.

"Oh I am so sorry. I wasn't really expecting visitors." He chuckles as he turns the torch off and places it on the worktable. He looks at me for a second.

"Are you one of the kids that are fighting today?" He asks me.

"Yes I am. I just wanted to check out the armory in my free time before the fight" I respond back to him.

"Well as one of the teachers here and as a frequent user of this place, I think I can help you out." The man responds to me.

"What are you working on? It looks like a very serious modification."

"Oh I was trying out a theory I had. I am trying to reforge my phantasm bow to allow and increased durability to swing and deflect shots. A mirrored finish if you will. Not that I have a real need for it other than as an experiment to teach my students." He explains.

"You're a teacher here. So what do you teach?" I ask him.

"You have already meant my wife. I am Mr. Lanslac. I am the lead Archery teacher and I also teach first year survival courses. I am also the co faculty lead of the one of the school's student organizations, my wife is the other faculty lead. Our student organization is designed to help a mage better improve their magecraft and combat skills through competing in events held across the world by very wealthy people who want to promote the development and known research of magic in stressful team based combat scenarios rather than uneventful research through old lost books. I do not want to bore you with more of the specifics, because as I recall they are letting you out of class early on Friday to search through all of the student organizations on campus." Mr. Lanslac tells us. A student organization designed to improve their skills through combat?

It does seem interesting, but as fun as it sounds I don't know how well I would fit in. It probably is just a bunch of guys getting into fitness contests and trying to knock each other out, and then laughing about it afterwards. The competitions are probably all just a show for spectator hype, and I do not think that I could handle a bunch of people that wouldn't be able to take combat seriously. I have known people like that before and they do not typically last long in fights. It is painful to watch, and I don't think that I can anymore.

"So how does your modification work?" I ask Mr. Lanslac.

"It is an alloy of various types of phantasm spirit essence synthesized and super-heated to remove impurities." Mr. Lanslac says.

"Did you gather these yourself? I didn't know that they sold qualities this high from any merchant, because they are too scared to take down anything over rank B and that is just the top quality vendors.

"You have a good eye. Do you have experience in essence gathering?" Mr. Lanslac asks me.

"You could say that." I don't add much more than that. It is not something I tell people I just meant, especially when it will affect how others think of me. I know it will come up sooner or later but I prefer later if I can help it.

"From the database, it says that you are pulling a 95% integrity summon at the induction ceremony. I am impressed. I could not even hit 92% until my last year of school. Would it be alright if I took a look at it? I could even make sure it is ready for your fight." He says rather excitedly.

He does make a very compelling argument and maybe his expertise could figure out the strange enchantment on it.

"Yeah sure." I hold my hand out and summon it.

The sword appears in my hand and I place it on the table. Mr. Lanslac takes out a set of goggles and looks upon the cloaked weapon trying to match it with the databases description on screen. He then traces his hand along the blade to accurately assess the dimensions

"Hmm. It isn't very often that the weapon itself has a dark cloaking enchant and usually when you do see it, you see it on an assassin or even some certain archer weapons, but on a sabers sword it is a very unusual occurrence. Is there a specific situation when it doesn't seem to cloak?" Mr. Lanslac asks me.

"When I empower it above a certain level, the mana overflows the weapon and the cloak breaks."

"Well I would have to take longer look at it, and see it in combat in order to do a better analysis. The database can't tell me much since you haven't been in much testing or combat yet. Tell you what I will do some research into other instances where similar effects have occurred, if you promise to speak with some team members at the student organization event on Friday. I will even use the fight data that you have and that you are about to generate to get a better idea of what it is. We here at the academy love to help our students discover their true potential. "Mr. Lanslac holds his hand out to shake my hand. I grab it and accept.

"I will. Thank you Mr. Lanslac."

"Please. Just call me Mr., especially since I have a feeling that I will be seeing a lot more of you around here. You do seem to be especially interested and knowledgeable in weapon materials."

"Say Athenox, it is about 2:15 pm. Don't you think we should head back to the arena now? You know, so you can teach Luke a lesson or so you said." Devin reminds me.

He has hardly said a word while we have been down here. Was he not interested in coming down here or is he simply beyond speechless? In either case, I pick up my phantasm and we walk to the elevator and make our ascent to the Arenas.

"How do you plan to fight him? What is your strategy? You haven't seem to have put too much thought into it from what I can gather. You also do not seem like the kind of person who would charge in reckless, and against his fighting stance you should probably have some very well placed hits given your test results."

"You are reading other people's test results already? They are practically meaningless until later in the week. We still have six class tests left. I wouldn't go off of one test alone, and if you must know. I am not going to use my phantasm, and I am going to end the fight so fast that there won't be much data to collect."

"Are you suffering from heat stroke? Do I need to get you to the infirmary? Because I just heard you say that you are not going to use your phantasm weapon. Luke is using two phantasm weapons. Luke uses a sword, Excalibur Galatine and a shield, Divine Aegis. There are virtually no openings for you to land a clean strike or disarm with a weapon, so what makes you think that you're going to do it without one?" Devin rants on in a frenzied and well knowledgeable state.

He did all the research he could have done on Luke. His attack patterns, attack speed, force projections, empowerment levels, and even his mana drain rate. However that is only data from the induction and the first class test, which will not give me a picture worth looking at.

"It is better to develop knowledge on the fly than to predetermine my strategy based of minuscule amounts of information. There is always the possibility he could have held back on the tests." Just like I did when I used an unpracticed stance as a precaution to trick the system.

I will correct it later when things are less unknown and volatile.

"So the rest of the tests are in descending order based off of our initial stats, right? That means that we will have different tests tomorrow. I will be in the Berserker class tests in the morning and then the Rider test in the afternoon. What about you?" Devin asks.

"I have the Assassin test in the morning and then the Berserker test in the afternoon. So it kind of sucks that we will probably not see each other much tomorrow, but I am sure we could get lunch." I suggest to him.

"Sounds great." Devin doesn't say much afterwards. He probably still doesn't know what to make of me.

I do know that it will be a tough fight because Luke does look like a mage that knows what he is doing. Devin also seems confused from the information he has figured out about me from today. This morning with my mom, at the induction ceremony, at the Saber class test, and the armory. It isn't anything he should have to know, so for now I am just going to go show that punk Luke how to have respect and concern for others.

*Our hero, Athenox, along with his newfound friend ride the elevator to the 5th floor where the arenas are. When they step out they are surprised to find a pretty large crowd of freshman students with a few other unknown people sitting in the audience. Scene 2.*

"Wow there are a lot of people that want to see a fight."

"It isn't as much just because it is a fight on the first day. It is because of what this fight means. Luke is a rank A student who has been already been claimed by a student organization. He is one of only a handful to be claimed so early. Usually the student organizations are not allowed to claim or accept members until after the event on Friday. So it is very weird that he and few others already have been, the only exception is if they get a request to do so in the summer." Devin explains.

"Is there any particular benefit to being claimed early?" I ask.

"Essentially it means you have a reserved spot on a team. This is important because it prioritizes you over everyone else in position on the organization and each organization has a member cap based on what their purpose is." Devin tells me. So everyone expects him to be good just because of that?

"Hey loser! It is about time you showed up. I would hate to say that line, but I was starting to think that you were not going to show up. I am not fighting a two against one match here so you may want to get going Devin." Luke shouts out from an arena in which the fight is probably going to take place.

"Hey Devin, go grab a seat next to that group around Jason. I bet he is going to have the clearest picture of what is going to happen in this fight. Since you want to know more I would listen in to him." To my knowledge he is the only one in this room that I have actually fought before. I walk on to the arena where Luke is standing.

"So how do you want to do this? I will give you time to try and use your 95% integrity summon even though I doubt it will do you any good." Luke is trying to taunt me as the arena platform raises to the center of the complex.

"No I am ready." I take a pair of gloves out of my back pocket and put them on my hands.

"Are you forfeiting? Or are you just trying to annoy me?" Luke reaches his hands out and summons his phantasm weapons.

"Excalibur Galantine and Divine Aegis!" He shouts as the weapons appear in his hands.

I clench my fists and start channeling, I can feel the mana flow into my arms, legs, and chest. These gloves should prevent me from accidentally overdoing it and inflicting serious injury, even with the absorption field within the arena. He would have a better chance had he chosen to fight me in the auditorium, but that is fixing to be his problem. An arena board floating above the arena displays a countdown timer and what looks to be a minimum of vital status information of each combatant. At the ready it starts counting down from 10 seconds.

*As Athenox is in the arena with Luke, Devin makes his way to the stands to ask Jason what Athenox's strategy really is.*

"So Jason, what do you think Athenox is doing?" Devin asks Jason.

"You were just with him right? Did he say that he wasn't going to use his Phantasm weapon?" Jason asks Devin in return.

"Actually he did say that. Does that have something to do with those gloves?"

"Yes it does. He is many things but stupid and reckless are not one of them. Athenox is using those gloves because he doesn't see Luke as that big of a threat."

"What do you mean? His phantasm is ranked A." Devin asks Jason again.

"It will become clearer as the fight progresses. Watch."

I decide to taunt Luke and let him make the first move. He can really only do one thing at the moment and that is attack. He is not going to wait for me, because he has too much pride. He is also thrown off by me not using a weapon, and he may initially try to take advantage of that but it is still probably going to bother him. So he will build up the power of his attacks slowly to try and coax me into matching him.

"Fine then I will just have to crush you before you can make a move!" He shouts as he charges at me and slams down with his sword. I easily dodge it.

Luke didn't fully empower the strike so my theory still holds. I should counter attack before he figures out what I am doing, but I still have plenty of time. His shield could be toughest part of this, if he used it offensively. I catch the next strike with my hand and try to push it forward.

"Ha, there is no defense that can't be cut by my sword. All you are doing is hurting yourself." Luke is almost correct about that.

It is clear that he used more mana in that strike than in his past 10. And it could cut fairly easily cut through my hands normally.

"Wait Jason, why are Athenox's hands glowing like that?"

"It is because of what he learned from his father."

"His father? Is he someone important?"

"Yes he is. And that type of fighting style is a counter magic fighting style."

"Why aren't you ran through yet?" He throttles more mana into his sword.

I am going to lose if he empowers his sword anymore, especially if he triggers whatever the blades full effect might be. However I am wearing him down and I can see the initial effects of mana drain. He has probably never has to use this much mana in a fight in his life, which means he has never seriously fought before. I deflect the strike I was holding and send it crashing into the ground next to me.

"How did he manage to force his sword like that?"

"It is a type of magic known as enhancement magic. On its own it wouldn't be that powerful, especially in most mages cases because they only think to use defensive or mobility enhancement spells. However due to Athenox's past training, he is able to use it as a very offensive utility spell. It is often viewed as weak because enhancement magic is a very basic part of most mage training. In this current situation though, it does not look so weak." Jason explains to Devin.

"Wow that's actually kind of cool." Devin says.

I clench my fists and feel my hands. I am still good but I need to end it now. I burned through a decent chunk of the exterior enhancement when I deflected that attack and I do not want to risk having to recharge. I run at him and he tries to block with the shield. I jump and bounce off of his shield, as I land I spin and kick him in the back sending him ground with force.

"How long are you going to keep it up with these cowardly and evasive tricks? You are only delaying the inevitable." Luke's arrogant taunting won't get him anywhere.

"From what I can tell you should give up. You have lost, because you do not have the mana to continue. Anymore would cause more severe levels of magic drain." I taunt him and also explain why he is going to lose this fight.

"Shut up! I am not about to lose to you, not just because of something like mana drain. I wouldn't be this strong if I let little things like that get to me. Now prepare to lose because my sword is the sword of victory, Excalibur Galantine!" He is charging a full empowerment on the weapon and raises it in the air.

That idiot. He doesn't have the mana left to use that. It will cause the vessels in his arms to burst or at least it would under normal circumstances. With the magic core in the school, he will probably fracture both of his arms if I had to guess. I should probably be more worried about what will happen to me. If I take this thing full force I am probably going to be knocked out for a week. He brings the sword down and starts to slash with it. I summon Caliburn and stab it into the ground to absorb and diverge the full force of the blast off around me, but it still knocks me back a great distance. My ears are ringing and my body feels sore from the blast but I am still able to stand. I wish I could say the same about Luke because he is now currently passed out on the ground. A buzzer sounds overhead declaring the end of the match and the arena board has declared me the winner. The crowd is too in shock to cheer. They either don't know what just happened or if they did then they are shocked by what I just did.

"Athenox Emiya is the winner!" The board displays from above. The arena starts to descend back to the floor and a medical team comes onto the field. They take Luke and ask me if I am okay.

"That is pretty impressive but in the future I expect you do better and hold back less just like you did when we fought over the years." Jason says to himself from the stands.

"Do you think he learned his lesson?" Mrs. Lanslac asks as I head towards the exit of the arena.

"I didn't think he was going to resort to draining himself of magic energy. I would have ended it far faster had I known. If Luke is as well-trained of a mage as he says he is then he should know how to control his power."

"And I will go visit him in the infirmary to remind him of that but you both aggravated each other to the point of conflict, so you are both equally responsible. The principal specifically said not to do anything reckless and as far as I am concerned you both failed. The schools disciplinary action committee is not going to get involved because you both agreed to this fight but I would expect that they will be keeping a much closer eye on your actions. I do not know much about you but I would assume you would know better, and as for Luke who is going to be a representative member of a student organization I would expect him to know better as well. No if would excuse me I have a meeting to attend to." She rapidly heads towards the elevator.

*While Athenox and most of the other freshman students head to their dorms for sleep and dinner. Mrs. Lanslac is in a dimly lit room. She is sitting at a large round table. In all but one of the other seats are figurines of different animals, and items. There is a student in the last seat, closest to Mrs. Lanslac. At this time, Athenox is down at the Saber restaurant on the first floor of his dormitory. Scene 3.*

"I am sorry to call you in earlier than scheduled, especially when you I know you are all making preparations for the team's upcoming year. I know that we were going to meet on Friday to finalize our new freshman member selection, however something has come up that must be taken into consideration by the teams upperclassmen. Mrs. Kotomine, if you would please explain the events of today." Mrs. Lanslac addresses the room.

"Certainly Mrs., There was a fight today." There is a upperclassman girl sitting in the seat next to Mrs. She has a tablet in her hand and pulls up the detailed notes on the surface of the table.

"So what? There is always at least one fight in the first week, and many more after. I do not see what is so special." A voice emits from an Eagle figurine on one of the chairs.

"Normally we would agree with you but this is a very special occurrence fight. It is between one of the prospective members and another student. From what Mrs. has told me, this fight had been aggravated between the two all day and a third member was involved who stepped out of the conflict before a fight was established." The student explains.

"Does that have something to do with the irregularity?" A unicorn figurine asks from across the room.

"Yes it does. From our initial student data, the three students involved are all very uniquely powered Saber mages. The first one who is our perspective is Luke Matou. Rank A in strength and endurance, and rank C agility. His phantasm weapons are rank A as we have already confirmed from his team application. The thing he doesn't like to tell people is that his magical energy and his detection are rank D, which may have ultimately lead to his defeat in today's fight."

"He really lost? I thought he was pretty strong amongst all of the other freshman candidates. I don't know how he could have been beaten by another freshmen." A wolf statue says shocked by the information.

"The student who beat him is lower ranked in comparison. His name is Athenox Emiya, a Saber mage. In most categories he is weaker than Luke. His phantasm weapon is only rank C with a very odd effect. His sword Dark Caliburn has a cloaking enchant, which Mr. has looked at. Athenox's strength and agility are rank B, with magical energy rank of A. His endurance is rank C, only because his magical resistance is rank A. The part that makes his stats the strangest is that his detection skill is ranked EX for some unknown reason. Now this data isn't definitive until next week when all of the class tests have been complete so we don't have any specifics as to the reasoning for the irregularities." Kotomine explains.

"Emiya? I swear I have heard that name before. It might have come up once when I was in Undercity." A fox statue asks from a chair.

"Yes it is very possible considering who his parents are. Athenox's father is the current dark faction leader for the Undercity, his name is Hades Emiya." Mrs. Lanslac announces.

"How can that be? I heard that Hades's son was the leader of his elite combat unit, the Reaper Squadron. How would he be able to lead a unit of knights tasked with the job of being Hades personal forces at such a young age?" the eagle statue responds.

"While we are not currently clear of the past history between the two, I am not certain that it is good. Reports state that the commander of the Reaper Squadron went missing about a year or two ago and command of that unit went to one of Hades four personal bodyguards. That could mean he ran from Undercity." A bear figure presents the information forward.

"I could see how you would think that if you didn't know his mother, Mickey Bladedancer. Or better known as "the Wrathful Mother"." Mrs. continues.

"You mean Wrathful Mother as in that Wrathful Mother? The berserker mage from all those years ago in the Second Mage Wars? The one that slaughtered an entire army?" The wolf statue asks.

"Yes but it is important know that she had a very noble reason for it and given the circumstances, anyone else in her position who could have done the same would be just as noble. However there are rumors about what happened to her afterward, and how it affected her in the long term but she seems to have raised a fighter just as strong." Mrs. interjects.

"So the son of the dark faction leader whose family line has consistently kept peaceful control in the territory for 1000's of years and a warrior mage who was strong enough to take down around 15,000 mages all by herself saving hundreds of innocent civilians in the process, and those were just the ones that could be identified. I think I can see him as a valuable member of the team off of that alone, and not to mention we still do not know the actual extent of his powers." The eagle statue says.

"Wait hold on. How did the fight go? Based off the numbers, it seems like it would have been a one hit knockout but with the irregularities of this Emiya kid and given that the results of fight indicate otherwise." The bear statue asks.

"Athenox used what appears to be enhancement magic to deflect and evade most of Luke's strikes even some of his empowered ones. Luke couldn't detect the enhancements and kept a steady increase of his magic energy into his weapon, even to the point of mana draining himself because of his limited capacity. Athenox did a minimal number of offensive attacks and the fight lead to a conclusion when Luke tried to activate his full empowerment move in his sword, but because of the mana drain he would have been critically injured even with the absorption field in the arena." Kotomine exclaims.

"Would have? Was it stopped?" The unicorn statue asks.

"Yes. Athenox noticed the mana drain and somehow managed to deflect the blast with his phantasm. We believe he was able to it because of his detection and his magic even though we don't know what his magic can do yet." Kotomine states.

"Under most circumstances, deflecting would have just damaged him with the attack and he still would have been hurt. What you are implying is that he both reflected the spell onto its original caster and potentially altered its energy to do what, heal Luke? It doesn't appear that he would be skilled enough to do that. I know of Caster mages that cannot even perform such a feat." The unicorn figurine says.

"I may have reason to believe that his magic is of a very rare affinity. I will not be able to confirm it until after all of the final results from the class tests are calculated. However I called you down here to ask if it you think we should claim him before any of the other organizations look into him. Given that the knowledge that he could take down a high ranking prospective will eventually spread to the other organizations in the school. If we wait he may be inquired by other organizations." Mrs. Lanslac ultimately asks the students in the room.

"Well I already said in favor." The eagle statue says.

"He certainly seems like he knows what he is doing. I am also in favor." The bear statue says.

"I agree as long as we can keep an eye on him." The wolf statue says.

"Sounds great to me." The fox statue agrees.

"Hmm. If we can keep looking his irregularities to make sure it he isn't just a fluke, then I would also agree." The unicorn states.

"Then it is unanimous Mrs., we now have our 15th and final perspective freshman. He is now locked in and safe from the other organizations." Kotomine says.

"Nothing is final until Friday when and if he says yes." Comments the bear statue.

"I would hate to be rude and the break was so nice, but I need to get back to gathering resources." The eagle statue caws out to the members of the room.

"Very well then. Since we have reached an agreement, you all are dismissed. However, I expect you all back here for the freshman training session this weekend. Not to mention your classes start next Monday, so don't go and do anything reckless just before school starts." Mrs. Lanslac declares.

All of the statues emit a glow and vanish out.

"Oh Mrs.? Should we have informed them about what you discussed earlier?" Mrs. Kotomine asks

"No we will wait until the freshmen class tests are over. Telling them now would cause them to be distracted and bicker with each other." Mrs. Lanslac replies.

*End of Episode 2.*


	3. Chapter 3

Fate/Academy: Episode 3

*Our hero, Athenox who has just finished his dinner, is walking back to his dorms. He is making his way down the 7th floor hallway. Scene 1.*

Man after all that has happened today I am really tired. First was this morning with my mom, then the induction ceremony and class tests, not to mention the duel. That is a lot of magical energy to use on the first day of school. I make it to the front of the door marked 728 and unlock it with my keycard. When I walk in I am surprised to see a loser sitting on the couch in the living room, using an ice pack on his arm.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I should ask you the same question." Luke responds.

"This is my dorm." I reply to him.

"I didn't ask for your jokes, loser. I asked what you are doing in my dorm." Luke starts shouting.

"Your dorm? This is my dorm, and the only loser in here is you!" At this point we have both started shouting pretty loud.

"There has clearly been a mistake in the system, because I do not know how it would put someone like you in this room. It was supposed to remain empty for our equipment." Luke says to me.

"How much equipment could you possibly have? It isn't like you have the mana use all of it anyway." I retort

"At least I am not a coward who pulls their punches and uses their opponents like bulls by taunting them until they get tired out." He returns in kind.

"Hey if you told me about your little problem, I would have gone easier on you."

"Do you want a rematch right now?" He summons Excalibur Galantine and points it at me.

The door labeled B and C open up and a darkly lit figure walks out of each. They walk out of the shadows, they are two males of equal height to Luke. One of them has black hair and the others is light brown, and with their current state it would be very hard to tell the style or texture of their hair.

"Will you knock it off? It is 10:30 pm and some of us are trying to get some sleep before tomorrow's rigorous class tests. Huh?" The brown haired one looks at me.

"So you are the 4th roommate? That is kind of funny considering everything that happened today." The black haired one says. They both sound like they are barely conscious.

"I am Gabriel, and he is Micheal and we are both Luke's brothers. I suggest we all get some sleep and then we have formal introductions in the morning or something. Especially you Luke. You need to rest and regain your strength. He did wipe the floor with you pretty hard." The black haired one named Gabriel says.

"Ok, but we are dealing with this tomorrow!" Luke exclaims.

He says that but he should know that once you have been assigned a room, you could only get reassigned if you have a really good reason and if I had to guess I wouldn't think that not liking someone is a good enough reason to the head faculty members of the school who would have to approve it. Besides, he should have learned his lesson and I don't have any more major problems with him. None that I can fix anyway. I walk into my bedroom, make sure the alarm on my alarm clock is set, and then collapse on the bed.

*It is the next day, as our hero walks out of his 3rd class test, the berserker class test. He is headed to meet Devin for lunch in the cafeteria. Scene 2.*

I am so glad that I am done with my class tests for today. Also, as I thought, Luke tried to make an appeal to the faculty about our room assignments but he was simply turned down because he didn't provide a good enough reason for it. If he doesn't like me for being right and I don't like him for being so full of himself then he doesn't have to talk to me, but it would be idiotic to let that get in the way of his magic training. He must have some reason to become a successful mage in the first place, right? I have got to meet Devin though. They had to hold him late in the infirmary. From what I have heard someone's Hippogriff got a little carried away and trampled over him. I walk into the cafeteria to find Devin waiting in line. I join in line behind him.

"Hey Athenox." Devin greets me as i approach him.

"Hey are you okay?" I ask him.

"Yes I am fine. It was nothing more than a little scratch. Some healing magic in the infirmary fixed me up, besides the absorption field took most of the damage for me."

"Good. Now that I know you are physically alright. I have a few questions that have just been TEARING away at me."

"Sure… wait. What do you mean "tearing away at you"?"

"Oh you know. If I really had to DIG into it."

"Athenox…"

"It just gave me this really TRAMPLED feeling." His voice starts to develop a sense of concern.

"You do not have to do this."

"It is DOWN TO EARTH experiences like that make us better people."

"Stop." His concern slowly turns to frustration.

"Does this qualify you as roadkill?"

"That's not funny, man. You can stop now."

"It is fine. There is no need to be all depressed."

"We have only been friends for two days but I can already tell I have made a mistake." The hope in his eyes seems to have faded and died.

"There is no need to make a CAW about it." I drag this on for another five or so minutes until we get our food and sit down at a table.

"Are you done now?"

"Yes, I am."

"To tell you the truth, that hurt worse than the Hippogriff. Enough about my class tests, how did yours go? Did you succeed at them as much as you did for the Saber test?"

"I wish I could say that but unfortunately is not the case. They were both pretty lackluster compared to my Saber test. In the Assassin test, I couldn't physically catch up with my target without running out of breath and energy, and in the berserker test I got utterly destroyed because I couldn't withstand enough physical force to not get sent into the wall at least 10 times." I explain.

"That bad huh? Are you sure they got your mage stats right?"

"Oh they are correct. I didn't do all that bad at them. I never lost track of the target in the Assassin test, even when it moved the fastest and tried to hide its presence. And in the Berserker test, I managed to generate the fastest attack speed. That even includes some of the group who were primarily Assassins." My explanation continues.

"I still do not physically understand how that is possible but it is impressive. Hey, is it alright if I have a seat here?" A girl asks.

"I see no problem with it. Are you cool with it, Devin?" I ask him.

"I am fine with it. Go ahead and sit." Devin says as the girl takes a seat at the table.

"Of course from what I have heard, it would have been more impressive had you not been sent flying across the room immediately afterwards."

"You have got a point. I really have to improve my skills."

"Who might you be anyway? You did forget to introduce yourself when you sat down." Devin says to the girl.

"Oh, I did forget. Sorry, my name is Miraldes McRemitz. It is nice to meet the student who thought fighting on the first day was a good idea."

"If you heard the ignorant things coming out of the mouth of the guy I had to fight, then you would know that it had to be done. However, I do feel bad that he pushed that scenario to the point of a worse ending for himself."

"What do you mean, Athenox? You just deflected his final attack and knocked him out right? It is his fault not seeing a move like that coming. Also, I forgot to ask you yesterday. When I was watching the match, Justin said something about your past training. He said that because you were using those gloves, that you weren't taking the fight seriously. There may have been something about counter magic in there too. It was really hard to make sense of him because he was being all cryptic."

"That's how you did it? I thought it was weird that a Saber mage only drew his sword at the end of a fight. I wasn't quite sure how you could absorb his strikes like that. You used enhancement magic on your hands to block and catch his sword." The girl named Miraldes says.

"More or less."

"Wait then why did you wear the gloves? Couldn't you have just generated more force by punching him in the face and being done with it?" Devin asks me.

"Anyone who uses enhancement magic knows that. The gloves are to prevent the magic enhancements in your hands from overloading and deteriorating into raw magic essence. Also since he wasn't trying to kill his opponent, he used the gloves to limit how much he could channel into a single strike. In a real fight they would also help him conserve his magical energy. However for most of the few who use enhancement magic to attack, myself included, they wouldn't have had to worry about overloading the gloves for a fight of that duration. So you must have a more unique reason to have to use them?" Miraldes explains.

"Yes, I can only use enhancement magic on my hands for a relatively short amount of time before that deterioration process starts, but I never could figure out why other than just the fact that my hands don't typically keep magic energy contained in my hands for very long because I am usually powering it through my sword very quickly."

"Well then why did you learn enhancement magic in the first place? If you aren't adapted to it. "

"It isn't a reason I actively express to people, because it usually changes how people think of me. So if we could avoid bringing it up for now, then I would be appreciated."I say to them and then really start focusing on my food.

I knew that fight would make people curious but I was reckless and did it anyway. I can be sure that at least one person knows, and if I were to look further into it then I could be sure that multiple people have figured it out. At least right now I am known as the kid who beat a perspective in a duel, rather than as a dark and ruthless murderer. I should keep this information until it becomes absolutely necessary to say it, or until someone undoubtedly confronts me on it when they figure it out. I will handle the consequences either way.

"Athenox, are you okay? You seem to be eating really fast and considering how much you had on your plate, I am impressed. I also do not want you to hurt yourself." Devin says to me with alarm. In my thoughts I seemed to have gotten carried away and cleared the whole plate.

"Huh… Oh… I am really fine. I am hardly even full. I can always usually eat a lot, especially after I burn through a significant amount of mana."

"Hey do you guys want to hit one of the stores after this, because I kind of need to restock on some special materials for next week." Miraldes asks us.

"What kind of special materials could you possibly be needing?" I asks Miraldes curiously.

"Oh you know, the usual. Special elixirs, some Iron woven cloth, and a few other enhancement items."

"Well since we are going to start openly carrying our phantasm weapons next week, I should probably get a scabbard for my sword."

"That is a great idea, the old sheaths I had used in middle school are falling apart beyond repair." Devin says.

*Athenox, Devin, and Miraldes are now in the school store still on the first floor. Scene 2.*

"Wow, this place has a lot of stuff. None of it is exceedingly high quality, but considering the fact that you didn't kill it yourself. I would say it's pretty fair."

"Are you finding what you are looking for, Miraldes?" Devin asks her.

"Mostly, but Athenox is right. It is lacking in quality compared to some of the stuff my family has used before, but due to the fact that I don't think they want us to leave campus unattended it will have to do for now."

"Good point. They may have let a fight on the first day slide, but I would have to think that is minor compared to getting yourself killed on the first week while on an unapproved trip to go hunt corrupted spirits outside of city limits."

"I agree. The punishment for that would be almost too severe to imagine. Probably the possibility of being expelled. It isn't quite worth it yet."

"What do you mean yet? Are you planning more stupid things, Athenox?" Devin asks me.

"Not in the immediate future, but I will have to eventually need to fix or upgrade parts of my weapon and rank B materials just won't cut it. As a knight I have to take my blade's care very seriously."

"Did you just call yourself a knight?" Devin bursts out into laughter.

"A knight wouldn't have punched an opponent in the back. Something about a code of honor?" Devin's laughter continues.

"I showed him honor by not using my sword. Anyway, I couldn't find a good scabbard that I wanted so I will check out the Saber store later. What about you, Devin."

"I found ones that will work for now." He shows off the sheaths as he has tried them on.

He seems to have found a set of brownish-red colored leather sheaths that are designed to sheath at your sides about where your belt is. Even if I had two blades, I wouldn't get a sheath like that. They tend to flail and stick out too much when you put them on the sides. I find most movements off balance and awkward when wearing them, and I am also not a samurai who does fancy attacks by unsheathing my blade. I am definitely going to want a scabbard so that I can sheath my sword on my back. I find them to be much easier to wear and it isn't like I am going to be doing a lot of back flips in combat, so I find its position to be much more advantageous. Once they are done buying their items, we leave the store.

"I am still a little worn out from the tests today, so I am going to go crash."

"I agree, so I guess I will see you all later."

"Maybe, what tests do you have tomorrow?"

"I have the Archer and Caster tests."

"I have the Rider and Saber tests." Miraldes says.

"Then I guess I will see you tomorrow Athenox, and I am sure I will see you around Miraldes."

"It is very possible, Devin." Miraldes responds.

What was that response? Of course it is possible. They go to the same school and walk in the same hallways. And the way Devin just said "see you around" is typically taken as an evasive comment but the tone he used was far from evasive. They just meant each other and already you could feel the awkwardness. I immediately walk back to the dorms. When I get to the courtyard, I notice something unusual. There is a giant statue of a swordswoman in the fountain. She is standing tall and has her hands on her blade that is stuck in the ground. It looks familiar. Oh, I probably just don't remember seeing it yesterday when I first got to the dorms because I was too busy looking at my keycard. And any other time I would have looked at it I was rushing or it was dark outside. I reach my bedroom and crash on the bed. I just need to rest for a few hours.

*While Athenox takes is taking a nap. Mrs. Lanslac is in the dimly lit room again, but this time only two people are in the room with her. Scene 2.*

"So you found something out about the third student involved in the fight yesterday?" Mrs. asks.

"Well sort of. Justin von Einzbern's full stats are still locked and he is still reserved by another organization. I was however able to figure out which student organization claimed him. By looking at when they reserved him, I was able to match which organizations were actively meeting in any of the club buildings at the time. A few were meeting, but only one seems likely as he has an EX weapon. The Elite Defense Forces would be the only group with high enough status and funding to be able to pull an EX, not to mention they reserved him about a week earlier than anyone else made prospect reservations. As is their usual operation."

"Thank you Mrs. Kotomine."

"Oh Mrs., you know you can just call me by my first name, since we have known each other all this time."

"If you insist, Aubrey."

"Mr., you said that you may have figured out something about his weapon?"

"It is just a theory, but I imagine that we will be able to confirm it once he is on the team."

*Athenox's dream, which still again looks like a desert. Scene 3.*

"Where am I?" Wait I remember this strange place from the last time. It was the golden desert where I pulled the sword out from. I walk up the hill like before, but when I get to the top I find that the sword isn't there. It was here last time.

"A fate truly worse than death!" A voice echoes across the desert again.

I suddenly feel sharp pains in my gut. I look down and find multiple Caliburn swords impaled in my chest. Suddenly I fall forward and start to black out. The last thing I see before I pass out is my hand with a bizarre symbol glowing red on my hand. I have seen this symbol before haven't I? I don't have long to look at it before the area around me seems to fade into blackness. When I reawaken, I am back in my bedroom. It is about 6:00 am according to my alarm clock, which means I slept for somewhere near 11 hours. I don't have the Archer test until 8:30, though it would be beneficial to start getting ready now.

*Our hero is currently in the arena designated as Arena 2, he and everyone else in his group are fixing to take the Archer class test. Athenox and Devin are standing next to each other in the group. Scene 4.*

"Okay students, this morning you all will be taking the Archer class test. As with all of the other class tests they will occur in phases. I am going to be administering the test and my name is Mr. Lanslac, but you may call me Mr. , in order to distinguish me from my wife who some of you may have already meant earlier this week."

"Man there sure are a lot of people in this class test."

"I have never seen so many students in one of the tests. I couldn't imagine what makes this one so special." A girl walks up and interjects.

"Anyone in a middle school biology class could figure that one out. It is because of the genetic traits specifically tied to the Archer class. Because of how adaptable the circumstances that create them are, it is very often that even people whose primary class are different will have at least one trait that could have potentially made them an Archer. The genes themselves are not as dominant as say a Saber's, or Berserker's. So they can be there even without influencing a mages primary or secondary class." The girl proclaims.

"It makes sense, but I can definitely tell that you and I went to two very different middle schools." I state.

"Yeah I could have sworn that they were too busy showing us the mana structures of plants and animals." Devin says.

"It isn't my fault besides, I would not expect much from a group of simple minded Saber mages who just like to hit stuff all day."

"Simple minded? That's a little harsh isn't it? I mean do I need to recite the famous speech that says why Assassins and Berserkers usually end up being polar opposites on a mages class scale? Or how about the one about Casters and Berserkers? Isn't it called the Mad Scientist theory?"

"What… that's not even true. There is no known link between Casters and Berserkers. Why would you even think that?"

"Athenox, I knew that you were good at analyzing people to find out information. I did not know that you were a genetic researcher. Secondly, how did you go about finding out she was Caster"

"Just because I didn't learn it at school does not mean that I did not learn it at all, and this was the easiest assessment I have ever done. To cut the list short. She went from a long drawn out explanation of bio-magical research to actively attacking us for not appearing as smart. It is a classic Caster move."

"Hey! You shouldn't assume that all stereotypes are true! Just shut up! You do not know anything about me." She clenches her fists before running off into another section of the group.

"I said something way out of line. I should probably find her and apologize."

"I would wait awhile until she is ready to accept your apology. Your tone was kind of offensive. Plus, I would keep in mind who you just insulted. I didn't recognize her at first, but she is Sarah Tohsaka, one of the three daughters of the Tohsaka line, and the top leading family of the Holy Council. Her and her two sisters are prospective freshman as well. Their father is the leader of the Holy Council justices, the elite forces of the faction. Devin informs me.

"I do not know much about the Holy Council families but from what I have heard they engage in sick acts to make sure that their children are strong, but of course that is just hearsay."

"Wow your running your mouth about the Holy Council again, and you managed to insult another one of its high ranking members. You must have a death wish." Luke walks up. He seems very offended by the statement that i just said.

"She initiated with an invalid generalization about Saber class mages, so I in turn responded with an invalid generalization about Casters."

"Your funeral, not mine." Luke says as he walks away to go talk to another group.

"Arena transformations initiated. Begin empowering the reality marbles." A voice says over the intercom of the arenas.

The arenas flash and are surrounded with light. When the light subsides, the outer perimeter of the arena is setup with ranges. Unlike the Saber class test, there are no target dummies. I have a feeling that this will be a different kind of surprise.

"Ok guys please walk over to a station and pick up an Archer testing bow. The Archer class test is about more than simply your ability to hit a target. In fact the first stage of your test is how fast and how far you can detect an incoming object and react to it. The bow itself should account for this not being your primary class by inhibiting the amount of feedback down to a level that you would experience with your own phantasm weapons and should adjust to your body specifications we had from Monday at the induction ceremony." Mr. Lanslac instructs the group in the arena.

I walk over to the station and pick the bow up. I can definitely feel the feedback inhibitor. It feels almost like the bow is trying to absorb energy from me in order to work. It is necessary at this stage of the class tests because you are unlikely to pull any significant abilities that will help you with weapon usage, so it is essentially forcing your body to accept the weapon at a higher power level than it would normally be able to handle. Not to mention that a weapon from a class this low in a mages class list is not well practiced like a weapon or ability in their top three classes. A practice like this shouldn't be fatal and at most would cause the user to go unconscious from the strain and that doesn't even count the arenas absorption field.

"The test will begin on my mark." Mr. Lanslac reads his watch.

"3...2...1...begin!" He shouts.

At first nothing happens, but then see it. An orb flying straight at me. I pull back with my right hand and make an attempt to shoot it down. I barely manage to hit it before it is a meter away from my face. I must have been lucky, because I can hear a few explosions in the background from people who didn't see the orb in time. Another orb fires from a different angle and this time I manage to shoot it down at the five meter mark. The hardest part of this phase seems to be readying the bow and actually firing, because I can detect the orbs very quickly. They give off a magic presence, just like the target dummies. Single orbs continue to fly towards me from alternating directions. It isn't too hard to follow their trajectory and lead a shot into them. Over the distance I can hear a comically disgusted yell from Mr. Lanslac.

"What are you doing!? That isn't a proper firing technique! Never in my life have I seen someone attempt so much over dramatic spinning! Dropping to the ground will not benefit you in this test, and you may as well take the orb to the face!" He seems to be yelling at a group of students who are trying some "creative methods" in order to pass the test. In my amusement, I almost didn't notice two orbs coming right at me. I can shoot one of them down, but I don't have time to fire a second shot so I knock the orb out of the air with my bow and send it crashing into the ground.

"How very Saber of you. I admire your adaptability in a combat situation. You would have lost points if this was your primary class test though." Mr. Lanslac says.

If I could fire the bow faster then I wouldn't have problems like that. I am spotting the targets just fine. So I need to try to take out two orbs with one shot, since I won't have time for a second one. I keep thinking as the orbs come out in sets. I think I have figured it out. Following their magical energy in the path allows me to find a common occurrence. No matter what path the individual orbs are following, there is always at least one point where their paths converge. I just need to determine that point for each set and fire at them there. As soon as the next set fires, I sense their individual paths. The first one is spiraling and the second on is zigzagging back and forth horizontally. The spiral has an oscillation in its diameter right when the zigzag crosses it at about 15 meters away. That's the convergence point. I ready my bow pull back and release just before they line up. The arrow's energy path runs straight through the orbs and destroys them. The sounds of staggered explosions confirms groups of other students who haven't yet figured it out.

"Now on to the second phase of the test, and this phase is different. While the last phase required you to make accurate shots, this phase will require you to make rapid barrage of shots against multiple targets. At this point we must ask that if you feel too exhausted or if the inhibitors pressure becomes too much, then you should please raise your hand and notify me immediately and your test will end at this phase. Ending the test will not count against you, but in my personal opinion it will not help you either." As soon as he finishes speaking, my arm feels like it is being ripped off.

The inhibitor has to increase to account for the fire rate that is needed for the next phase. I can hardly think from the pain. I should end the test here, but I will never figure out limit of my abilities without pushing them. I just have to be very careful with the magical energy flow now. If I mess up I could end up overloading the bow, or worse the feedback could cause my arms to fracture just like Luke's almost did yesterday. This might make me a hypocrite but I will not get stronger unless I do this. It will be harder to figure out my magical abilities and my phantasm weapon without it. I steadily feed mana into the bow, and it starts to darken from its normal tone. From behind me I notice that most of the group has opted out of this phase of the test, even Luke. However, it is very interesting because it seems as if Devin, Gabriel who is one of my roommates, and among a few others are three girls. One of the girls is the Sarah girl I accidentally insulted earlier. From what I can tell, Devin's bow is on fire, Gabriel's bow seems to be erupting shadowy energy, and three of the girls bows are glowing with holy light. Whether or not they are all wincing in pain like I am is unknown.

"Only this many left? I thought more of you would want to endure the pain to have a better result on the test but I guess not. Okay the test will begin in 3…2…1… Start!"

A flurry of magic orbs come flying out towards me. I pull the bow back and start firing a stream of arrows, causing explosions when they come in contact. I can't focus on where I am shooting at all, because I have to focus on how much mana I am feeding into the bow. Trying to hear anything in the arena is impossible because of the constant explosions. It seems that all of the remaining members in the test keep this up for about five minutes. After that I notice the number of explosions starts to decrease, and by the time I can start differentiating the explosions I only hear three different bows being fired and they're all coming from one section of the arena. My vision starts to blur with a reddish tint until the bow in my hand explodes and my vision blacks out and I am sent flying across the arena. Aside from the ringing in my ear all I can hear are the voices of a crowd gathering around me, but I lose consciousness afterwards.

*Athenox is taken to the infirmary where he wakes up. Scene 5.*

"Oh good your awake." A voice says to me as my vision clears up.

"What happened? I thought I had a good control over my mana flow, so why did I overload?"

"I must say that the usual question whenever someone wakes up is "Where am I?" or "Who are you?" so this is a new one."

"Well I was clearly injured so I was taken to the infirmary, and you are a doctor as given by your lab coat."

"Well now that all of that is cleared up, I should probably go and tell your friends that you are awake." The doctor laughs and walks out of the room.

Friends? Who is she talking about? Devin and who else? Within seconds a group of people walk into the room.

"Athenox, are you okay? What happened?" Devin asks.

"I must have overloaded the bow, but I thought that I was keeping a steady mana flow to prevent that from happening."

"Are you serious? Not even a two days later and you get dropped by the same thing you had just used as a weapon against me? Oh man, that is great." Luke busts out into laughter.

"No that technically isn't right. You nearly drained yourself completely of mana. Athenox lost control of his mana flow and caused his weapon to detonate. He had too much mana, whereas you didn't have enough. You were both reckless but in different directions." Miraldes explains.

"I think I can explain." Mrs. Lanslac walks in.

"Explain what?" I ask Mrs.

"We have been doing some research on you magical abilities, specifically as to your particular affinity of magic. The research isn't finished and probably will not be until after all of your class tests, but I figured it out after that fight between you and Luke."

"Hold on, my magical affinity is darkness just like my father's. It is why my weapon is Dark Caliburn."

"Not quite. Yes your weapon was summoned by you through your families' dark element. However it wasn't exactly your dark element. I believe that your dark element is a much rarer type known as void." Mrs. Lanslac explains.

"Void! How can that be?" The whole room says with a gasp.

"There are only about 150 known void mages in existence and it is an impossible affinity to learn or acquire through any other means than through random chance unless both your parents were active void users." Luke states.

"Last I checked neither of them were."

"So then how can that be?" Devin asks.

"And wouldn't I have known if I was a void user before this? Nearly all magical powers usually start to appear from birth, at least in some form." I try to process the explanation that was just given to me.

"You may very well have been showing signs even without knowing. Think about it. A unique ability among void users is to absorb energy. He only uses dark type magic from his father and enhancement magic from his mother. Normally we could write this off as genetics, but it is possible that he has been passively absorbing magic energy from his mother and father and then using it as his own." Mrs. Lanslac proceeds.

"Then what happened in the test today?"

"With the feedback inhibitors opening up your mana flow, you most likely drained yourself of all the mana you had built up from living with your parents that had been used as a dark affinity. So the remaining mana in your body reverted back to its original void state, and since you have never used void magic before it was in a newly volatile state similar to when a mage first uses their powers. You wouldn't want to make a mage use a feedback inhibitor in this state because any pressure would have caused an overload, so the fact that you kept a continuous fire rate up for five minutes is an attribute to you having had so much absorbed magic built up as well as your training."

"So if I hadn't have done the second part of the test, would I have reached that point?"

"Eventually it was certain to happen. You had seemed to have only been absorbing from your parents and now you are no longer in constant contact to keep up that reservoir, so you would have ran out at a slower rate but it still would have happened. In fact it is better that it happened now than later when you could have been in a more dire situation and had your magic give out on you."

"How do you know so much about void magic, Mrs. Lanslac?" Devin asks.

"I guess it is time to end all of this secrecy. I know so much about void because I am a void mage. As I am also a co faculty leader of one of the schools organizations known as the Elite Combat Team, and the lead Saber teacher, I am not supposed to reveal this information until Friday after school. However due to the given circumstances, I feel that it is necessary to disclose. Athenox, you among others in this room are perspective members who have been chosen by student organizations as reserved choices that make you immune from being asked to join any other club until you get an invitation to join the from the club that reserved you, that you may accept or decline. We keep these secret to avoid clubs from discriminating students who may be interested in different organizations on campus, and to prevent students from discriminating other students for being in clubs, or vice versa. So I guess I will officially ask all of you now, even though I know what most of your answers are. Would you like to officially accept the invitation to join the Elite Combat Team?" She looks around the room in order.

"I was already in this summer, but to make it official. I accept." Luke says.

"I accept, it sounds like a beneficial experience." Devin says.

"It will prove a valuable experience for me to improve my abilities. So I accept." Miraldes. She looks at me

"And you, Athenox?"

"I do not have a choice. I need to learn how to master void magic and you are probably going to be the only one who can teach me. So I accept."

"Ok well the doctors told me that all of your major injuries are taken care of, but given your new status they can't allow you to further proceed in the class test as it would only cause you more injury. This weekend, we will start your training and based on how well you do will determine where they put you in your classes, and the rest of you need to be there as well since it is mandatory practice for all team members." Mrs. Lanslac.

I am not sure how to process all of the information. When I woke up this morning I didn't expect that my magic type was going to change, and now I am going to have to train even harder to adjust for it. Would it have been better to not opt for the second phase of the test and have this happen later? I unfortunately do not have the luxury to find that out as my decision has already been made for me, because of my reckless actions. No, I can't think that way. I said that I was going to push myself in order to further my abilities. Besides she did say that this would have happened eventually. Then I guess it is better at the beginning of the school year than in the middle of a critical fight like a tournament or even worse in the field where it would have put who knows how many lives in danger. I will train as hard as it takes in order to be the best that I can be. Although now that I think about it, I should probably tell my parents about this. I imagine it will be quite the shock to find out that I do not bear either of my parent's affinities.

*Athenox is in his room on a video call with his mom. Scene 6.*

"Hey mom, something happened at school this week."

"The fight? Yes the school already contacted me two days ago. That wasn't quite what I meant when I said have a little fun. I am disappointed in you." My mom says to me.

"No, that's not what I am talking about, but to be fair I did end up saving him. What I wanted to ask you was something else. Did you know that I was a void mage?"

"A void mage? That is preposterous. You use your father's dark magic and my physical enhancement magic. Where would you even get that idea?" She laughs. The way she is talking doesn't sound right. It sounds more evasive. I explain what happened at the archer test.

"I told you not to get carried away. You know mana drain can be a very serious issue, but that doesn't mean you are a void mage. That just means you are reckless." The evasion in her voice is not going away. Something is wrong.

"Mom, I was able to fully empower my sword for 30 minutes, so 10 minutes of using a feedback inhibitor on a bow shouldn't have been a problem under normal circumstances."

"Maybe it was the pressure of these tests that got to you. I know how much succeeding at this school means to you."

"Mom…."

"Okay fine. Your father and I did not think it was going to be that big of a problem when we found out. When you were born you looked like a normal healthy baby, but as you got older developmental problems arose in your powers. At first we thought it was just your powers and that you were going to have to train harder. When you turned two we had you perform the magical rites of passage, as is custom for all mage families. It was when you were supposed to make your first corrupted spirit kill. Against a weak corrupted spirit of course. Typically at this stage of a mages life, a kill like this would have been possible, not without effort but still possible. However you did not hold up so well against it. Your body seemed to be very weak and the first hit sent you into the wall. I wanted to pick you up right then but we couldn't interfere or the ceremony would be invalidated and you wouldn't be able to receive further mage training. The test only continued to get worse to watch as the monster clawed away at you. Only when you were declared defeated would the test end. It was decided that you couldn't continue training until you had finished the test. Your father was heartbroken and desperately wanted his son, the only one who could be his successor, to become a strong mage. He was relentless in searching for a way to fix you. Looking into any and every known solution in magecraft, even giving up his humanity after his near insane search effort. He was almost at the end of his search, but then we were visited by a strange cloaked spirit who said that she would help us. The spirit said that your powers were too unstable to be developed as fast as other mages, which is why it didn't appear as though you were making any progress. She decided that she would awaken them under a few conditions. First she insisted that we each needed to sacrifice something important along with a large quantity of magic energy in order to act as a catalyst for the spell."

"So what did you give up?" I asked dreading the answer.

"Individually, not much. I am still here physically the same as I was. I did lose the only one I care about as much as you or your brother. Your grandma's soul acted as my half of the catalyst. Your father gave up something dear to him to. He gave up his feelings for me, along with the rest of his humanity, just to assure that you could have a better life. The spirit imbued this essence into you and as a result, the magic power inside you was awakened and filled with a large quantity of our magic energy, which seemed to cause your eyes to change color from a bright blue to that deep dark purple that they are now. She also insisted that we train you to be the best swordsman that you could be. After that the spirit vanished. You then passed the ceremony the next day. Life went on and your father and I drifted apart because of his sacrifice, which caused problems for our family dynamic. He couldn't handle himself anymore and I ran from him. Your father wanted you so that he could train you, but I wouldn't let him in his state. After sending out his forces to find me, I went into hiding and created an organized network of my old friends to use to keep you safe until he was calm enough to see you and then we took turns training you, in different cities but still."

"I do not know what to say. Thank you mom."

"I know. However we are now at a newer question, which is why you would go through a cap of mana that had been building up for over an entire decade and had been sealed by your grandmother?"

"I didn't know and also when you say it like that it doesn't make me feel any better."

"So what are you going to do? I think you should come home so you can be my apprentice and avoid getting more people hurt by your accidents."

"I can't, no I don't need to. The faculty leader of the Elite Combat Team is a void mage, and she said that she would help me, starting this weekend."

"Athenox, do you think that you can rapidly relearn how to use all of your former abilities with void mana?" My mom inquires

"I know that if I don't try, then everyone who ever sacrificed anything for me will have done it for nothing. I need to keep training here so I can be the best that I can be."

"Ok Athenox, if you insist. I have faith in you and I know that you can do great things. I will talk to you later. Let me know how training goes." She hangs up.

I know I need to get my rest like Mrs. had said but that will not help me. I at least need to try to figure out how to summon my phantasm weapon now that I am using my own mana as the source for the summoning. I reach my hands out. The mana feels different as I attempt to summon it through my arm and into the form of my sword. There is already so much feedback even though I have barely done anything. It is like I went back to being seven in terms of skill level. I keep trying to resist the feedback but eventually an explosion emits from my hands and I fall back on my bed unconscious.

*End of Episode 3.*


	4. Chapter 4

Fate/Academy: Episode 4

. *Athenox has woken up after his failed attempt to summon his weapon. Scene 1.*

"Hey idiot! Wake up." When I open my eyes I am surprised to find Luke standing in front of me.

"What is it?" I ask in response to Luke's question.

"Mrs. said to get some rest, not be an idiot and try something stupid. I can tell by the debris in your room that you made an attempt to use your mana."

"I thought you said that you liked to watch people blow themselves up. Especially if "they just can't help themselves"."

"Normally I would be inclined to agree with you, but Mrs. told me to keep an eye on you because she had a feeling that you would try something and who would have guessed, she was right. I also do not want to be responsible for cleaning up after your dead body when I get to tell Mrs. what had happened."

"Easy for you to say, you didn't just get your skill reset to that of an elementary school student."

"Maybe not, but I did get shown up by a loser who now has no idea what he is doing and only managed to do so because I myself wasn't strong enough. Given the current circumstances it was clearly a fluke, and I want to settle it. So I want to make a promise with you right now. When I get stronger and when you recover your powers, then I want a rematch to figure out who is better. Deal?"

"Deal, because I only ended the fight like I did because you were about to hurt yourself."

"How did you do that, by the way? It couldn't have been void if you were still using your parent's mana."

"Actually I used my detection to match the exact path that the energy emitted from your empowerment followed. Then, I used Caliburn's weird cloaking enchant to reflect it back on to you, which refilled you with mana to prevent you from getting seriously injured by the mana drain."

"I would have found it really hard to believe if it didn't work. Anyway you should go to bed. And to make sure of it…"

Without warning his fist hits me in the face and I go unconscious.

*Athenox's sudden slumber causes him to experience another dream. An altered version of the desert from before. Scene 2*

"This place… again? What are you trying to show me?!" I shout across the desert landscape before me.

I look down again to make sure that I am not impaled with blades.

"Why do you fight knowing that what you fight for is a lie?" A voice sweeps across the desert plane.

"What I fight for? I fight because I need to become stronger."

"What is the point of becoming strong?"

"I need to become strong so I may rid the world of the corruption."

"So you wish to protect the people?"

"No, protecting them implies that I am fighting for them. I am fighting for myself."

"LIES!" A flurry of blades descend from all around and impales me.

"Your ideals mean nothing and can only get you one thing." The dessert flashes and all that remains visible are piles of dead bodies and weapons.

"If that is what it takes then so be it." I walk up hill, stepping over the death that covers the ground.

I am coughing up blood. A sword appears in my hand as I stab it in the ground and use it to hold myself up.

"In your pursuit of justice, all you managed to accomplish was the assured death of those around you. In the end no one will be left to tell others of your story, or of your ideals, and if this is what you truly want then no one deserves to know your story."

The voices words don't make sense, and neither do mine. I obviously do not want to cause all of this death and destruction, but I need to fight harder or I will not be able to improve my powers. I would of course help someone in danger if I could, and why is that a bad thing? I fall to the floor black out.

*It is now Friday after school and as instructed Athenox is at the Elite Combat Team's building on the first underground floor along with all of his teammates. Scene 3.*

"I am glad that you are all here and I am just going to cut right to the chase. Monday will be your first day of classes and your first really challenging test. It will be the first grade you receive on campus. The test is from what we know going to be a very simple one and done duel against a random opponent. This is to provide the system with a composite of all of your abilities, so do not hold back until your opponent is unconscious. So for your training I am going to be breaking you into three groups each with an upperclassmen officer leading you. These groups are also going to be your groups when we start preparations for the competitions, so you should get to know them well. The rosters have already been made and are final, with one exception. As you all know, Athenox Emiya will be removed from his training group this weekend for special training. I will call out the group leaders who will in turn call out their group members." Mrs. explains to us.

If I wasn't so focused on wanting to train to catch back up to where I was, then I would be embarrassed for being called out like that.

"The group one leader is going to be led by Clara Kaminski and Corey Blackmore."

"Group members are Luke Matou, Jane Tohsaka, Solia Edelfelt, Scott Harway, and Macy Hisau." The girl upperclassmen who I figure to be Clara calls out.

Those five members walk up to their leaders.

"Group two will be led by Aubrey Kotomine and Katlyn Kotomine."

"Group members are Sarah Tohsaka, Mary Tohsaka, Micheal Matou, Gabriel Matou, and Zachery Blackmore." I can't help but think that they have a lot of siblings in their group.

I couldn't imagine being forced to have to work with my brother.

"Group three will be led by Connor Kaminski and Eric Sajyou"

"Group members are Devin El-Melloi, Miraldes McRemitz, Athenox Emiya, Alexander Ryuudou, and Adam Fujimara. All members except Athenox Emiya please step forward." The four of them who were supposed to be my group members all advance to their student leaders.

"Alright all groups are dismissed for training. Please follow your group leader's instructions very carefully. Athenox follow me" She leads me out of the student organization building to the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"I have decided that for the initial phases of your training it would be best if we were not in a confined location. Given the volatility of your magic right now. So I have arranged an arena for us to use."

"Ok, that makes sense."

"Luke told me about what you tried on Wednesday night, and I must ask you. Do you have a death wish? The dormitories have no internal magic absorption like the school building does. You could have easily took out the whole floor and killed yourself in the process."

"I know but I couldn't stop myself. I had to keep pushing. I figured that if I could at least summon my weapon, then I wouldn't be as far behind."

"I do not think that you are looking at this situation from the right point of view. You are not really starting over completely, Athenox. You still have all of the spells and techniques that you have learned before, but you will just have to adjust the processing to account for your new affinity. Who knows with my training you may find that you will be able to easily surpass your former self."

"Ok I am sorry. I promise that I will not be that careless again."

"I can tell that you are lying, but I accept anyway. I would be lying to say that in my years before being a teacher here at Avalon Academy, that I myself didn't do things were at least on level if not more irresponsible than you."

I have a really hard time believing that. The way she carries herself is like that of a knight, very valiant and straightforward. I just couldn't imagine her doing something that wasn't fully thought out.

*Athenox and Mrs. have now exited out of the elevator and are in one of the arenas. Scene 4.*

"Authorization code 932. User: Lanslac. L. Empower bounded reality marble." She speaks into her watch.

The arena starts to flash with light and the other empty arenas go out of sight. The outer field of the arena is converted and unrecognizable from when the arenas were used for the class tests. Instead of just adding the test stations, the whole arena is reshaped into a medieval style barracks complete with horses, metal forges, training dummies, archery targets, sparring pits and sleeping tents and campfires. It is like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.

"What is this place? Where are we?"

"You know what a reality marble is right?"

"Yes, it is high level magecraft that can alter an area around the caster. The academy use them on the arenas to modify and contain the area for the class tests."

"They do. However those are very basic reality marbles as they do not make any drastic changes to the environment and simply add in objects in controlled arrangements, which is ideal for projecting them onto multiple targets such as groups of students. A more advanced reality marble can take many different forms depending on the caster. In theory every well trained mage should be able to cast a reality marble unique to them. However it is not common practice because everything projected by the marble is not real and simply made of mana so it is seen as being a very worthless tool in combat. I myself even used to think that. It would make sense to think that way under a basic sense of what reality is. Things that have structure, shape, mass, or weight. Values in which we can observe with our five senses, but that is the point of a reality marble. Not to evaluate your own reality but to project it onto others and force them to see what you see. I found myself able to create this reality marble after going through major experiences with my phantasm weapon. After seeing the things it had shown me, and it had shown me its reality."

"Your weapon showed you all of this?"

"This and much more, but the other things it had shown me are not scenes suitable for most as they are the wastelands of combat. My point is that as a void mage, your sense of reality is your biggest weapon. You will have the ability to best control what form your reality takes." She starts to summon her weapon as purple energy emits from her hands.

"Arondight, the Unfading Light of the Lake! Come forth!" The weapon appears in her hands. It is a long two handed sword with curved edges and dark chains around the hilt of the blade. It looks like it has seen a lot of combat at some point because various nicks can be seen in the blades edges.

"When I was watching all of your tests and your duel. I had noticed that when you summon your blade, you never called it out by its name. Calling it out by its name declares its existence and makes it a single line spell chant that will cause the blade to become strengthened by your magical energy. Is there a reason why you have not?"

"The blade had never shown itself willingly when I had summoned it. So I figured it would be pointless if I revealed its name so freely. Besides, I had been managing to summon it without saying its name all of this time."

"That is honorable but that means that you were not summoning it with your own mana but instead the mana of your parents. Projecting it as their reality and not yours. If you want to grow stronger, then you and you alone must believe in the power that you have, even if no one else will."

"You are right. I need to rely on my own strength. I need to believe in my blade just as much as my parents have."

"That is right. Now I want you to summon your blade and this time call out its name as it comes to you." I reach my hands out and slowly start to channel.

"I call upon this reforged dark sword of my determination, Caliburn!"

The blade erupts as darkness in my hand and upon inspection is incomplete and in its present form nothing more than a glass replica that is filled with fractures. I grip the handle of the blade causing it to shatter into and explosion.

"That is a good start but it seems as if you will need to regain control of your mana flow before the sword will summon with enough structural integrity for you to use it effectively. If it helps you gauge your progress, then I would say that the summoning was at 15%, which is below the level of stability for most swords. I guess we need to try a different approach. Follow me." We walk over to a tent with a metal forge and a rack of swords.

Mrs. takes a sword off of the rack and tosses it to me as she picks up the rest of the rack.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It is simple. You know how to use a sword quite well. We are going to practice sparring with these swords until you can get a handle of your magic flow. Since these swords are mana constructions, it should be easier to for you to control them. And do not worry about overloading and breaking them because there will be a ton more if these run out. In fact it may almost be better because as you know mana flow is like a muscle and the more times you practice with it then the stronger it becomes."

I put a firm grip on the sword with my right hand and start to charge in. I make a few swings towards Mrs. and each one of them is blocked. I try to empower the sword as I evade her strikes. The blade is shattered as I try to land the empowerment against her sword. Arondight is a tough sword and its master is no different. Her stance is very firm and her strike placement is smart. If I was trying to win, then I would be going about it the wrong way because my one handed stance simply tries to avoid and out maneuver her blade with a faster attack speed. Which might work if I was using my blade. Having both hands able to control the blade is allowing her to make more impactful movements with her sword. I will switch it up to match her. Placing both hands on a new blade that I picked up. I try to empower the sword with my mana, which is once again successful, but once again the sword breaks upon striking against Arondight. The swords solid physical construction seems to cause each and every one of the blades I use against it to break. The swords that I am using have a limited capacity for magic energy and I have been charging them accordingly and filling them. I keep trying with every combination of attack pattern. Carefully changing when I empower during the strike, only to find myself breaking more swords.

"Something in my approach is not correct, but what?"

"Keep trying." She says encouragingly to me.

I grab another sword and rush in to attack. She blocks the first set of attacks but leaves an opening on her side as a result. I slide around her to try and charge a strike, but she catches it with Arondight and my sword shatters once again. This is going nowhere. Each attempt only leaves me with a broken sword. What is it? Is it because my swords are too weak or because that her sword is too strong, or maybe even both. Either way that you look at it, void mana seems to be very unstable. Whenever I try to solidify it into a blade, it instantly becomes unstable and explodes. Something is not right though. Usually I would have worn myself out from summoning my blade or trying to empower it this many times. I know I am not back to that level, so why have I not been exhausted to the point of passing out on the floor. I get that these aren't fully summoned weapons but I am still empowering just as much. Plus, it is not taking too long to activate the empowerments. I need to see if I can play off of this advantage. I kick the pile of swords in the floor between me and Mrs. so that I can always get to one when I need to. I grab one and try again to rush forward and empower it. It still breaks but I keep grabbing them off of the ground and striking with them at a rapid pace. Eventually one actually manages to resist being shattered and allows me to channel the empowerment, while I grabbed a second sword and empowered it also. Mrs. evades them but that is irrelevant to the fact that after a countless number of broken blades are left on the ground. I managed to build back up enough tolerance to successfully empower two swords.

"It took a little longer than I thought it would have but you are starting to regain your mana control. In order to solidify this, I want you to successfully perform this at least three more times. Each time you do it, I want you to visualize and feel the mana flow in your arms when you empower. That will be critical to understanding how you will need to readjust the rest of your spells, including your full weapon summon. Oh and know that you have weapons that won't shatter, then maybe you could try to prove more of a match as a sparring partner." She laughs.

I overload the weapons in my hands and pick up two new blades from off of the floor. I tightly grip the weapons as I charge in and start swinging. I start throttling mana into the blades. Now that I know what it is supposed to feel like I start to feel a difference than when I empowered Caliburn before. It was less fluid and I had to nearly force my magical energy into the blade. This is different. I get why all of those times it was not working. It was because I still thought of it as the same magic energy, when in all reality I was just overloading before I could even accomplish anything. Void mana wants to work in a different way than the dark energy, and I have to adjust accordingly. It wants to flow and absorb faster than a weapon can use it. It wants to overload and control the weapon. It wants to explode. I need to control it and keep a balance over how much of the weapon is filled with energy. I swing and force the blade to release controlled amounts of magic energy into each strike. The empowerments seems to speed up the blade and almost cause them to fly out of my hand when I strike. I need to be able to dampen the amount of mana that a strike uses. I use the blades to catch Arondight in a strike. Mrs.'s physical power is far greater than mine and as a result causes me to be pushed back a steady distance. I rebound off of the sword and jump into the air. This is it, I overload the weapons which sends me flying back towards the Mrs.'s location. I pick up another two blades and slam them into Arondight, which actually manages to send her back a few feet.

"Impressive strategy controlling the mana flow and using a timed overload as a way to accelerate a final strike. However it does have a problem with it, well two problems specifically."

"What problems?"

"Well the first is that it in a normal situation it would require you to have the ability to summon multiple blades, but I guess you seem to have the mana pool for it which is a very unusual Saber mage trait. So if you can manage to summon your blade, then I suppose it would be possible to summon your blades multiple times to perform a maneuver as complex as what you just did."

"And the second problem?"

"Considering your strategy required you to induce an overload to trigger an explosion in order to accelerate your strike enough to actually knock me back. It would require you to absorb the blast in a manner that would not deter you from the strike. In a normal situation without any absorption there is no way that you do not walk out of this with major injuries."

"I suppose that you are right, well I guess I will just have to account for that in my next try."

I pick up two more blades off of the floor. I cannot use the same strategy I just used. Even if it was a practical maneuver that I could use in a real world fight. I know that Mrs. could very easily be expecting it. I empower my weapons as I rush in again. As our blades cross, I can feel the mana from the surface of my blade. With every strike I see the mana paths of our swords in the air. I feel the mana of my blade as an extension of my own existence in the area around me. I currently seem to be at a stalemate with Mrs. and if I am going to break it, then I need to create an opening for me to attack from that she will not expect. I wonder if I can use the amount of mana in the air to my advantage. I throw one of the blades in my hand behind Mrs. and it lands in the ground behind her. I empower the blade and unconsciously reappear next to the blade as I pull it out of the ground and manage to catch and disarm the blade from Mrs. as she noticed me and tried to counterattack with a backswing a she spun and faced me.

"You seem to be getting much better at controlling your mana. It seems as if you followed the mana trail given off by your blade when you threw it and managed to use that power to enhance your body. And enhancing your body allowed you to accelerate faster along the trail. Causing you to be able to grab the blade and disarm me before I could realize it. Very impressive. Now for your final try."

"Ok."

I pick up another pair of blades off of the ground. I suspect that she will now keep a cautious guard up on front attacks as well as surprise attacks from out of nowhere. I can't evade my way out of this fight. I will have to use my mana to overpower her while she is using that sword. That sword, Arondight? I have struck at it many times and am starting to get familiar with it. She wields it in a two handed stance but is not limited to attacking that way, as she just attempted a backswing with it while using one hand. The sword can generate a lot of force in a strike, and I would say that it could easily contest with most weapons that I have seen, and it may even be able to hold its own against a sword like the Gate Key of Babylon if they had equally skilled users. I honestly doubt that Caliburn could do much against it at base level. There is something off though. It seems to have been nearly coated in my mana. So much so that it is starting to seep into the nicks on the blade or at least it appears as such. Mrs. is a void user also, so she may have intentionally absorbed my mana to either supplement her own or to cause any empowered strikes I performed to be rapidly depleted. Regardless, I stare at the blade intently before starting my strikes. As I come into contact with her blade again. I feel the components of the blades structure. So much so that I can envision it perfectly in my mind. I empower my blades and they flash with a purple light. When the flash stops, the blades appear to have changed shape into Arondight. I can feel the void power emanating from them. I am able to empower them against Mrs.'s blade. I manage to produce a flurry of strikes before the weapons explode and I am force to jump back and evade a strike from Mrs., and this whole process happened over the course of a few seconds.

"Where you using Arondight? How were you able to replicate my sword?"

"I was able to envision it in my mind and summon it, because I could detect the structure of it from parts of my mana essence that had gotten onto it. Very sorry to take it from you."

"No don't be. You found an advantage and took it. If you are able to gather enough data on a weapon to summon it just from combat with it, then I do think that you are skilled enough to be worthy to use it. However, I am not sure that what happened is a full summon. Considering the modified replicas seemed to break faster than when you empowered them normally, I think you just altered the construction of the original swords to match the properties of Arondight. I think that through all of this training that you can start to see the full extent of what is possible with your void magic. If nothing else you can throw off an opponent and gain the upper hand while they are distracted."

"I do still see problems though. The weapons structural integrity is far less than what I was able to with Caliburn, and when I altered the blades which turned them into Arondight, they had even less. I do not think I would be able to use a full empowerment with them."

"That is true, but Athenox you must give yourself some credit. You have a very vast mana pool and you are learning how to use it pretty well considering the amount of time you have put into it. A normal mage would take years to learn their skills in the first place, but you are learning a new set of skills in a matter of a day. Imagine what will be possible if you continue to train at this rate. I think we should take a break before continuing. You did just use a massive amount of magical energy, and whether you have the quantity to supply it or not, it is still very physically demanding."

"Yeah, I know. I do feel drained. So much so that it is kind of making my head spin."

Before I can say anything else I drop to the floor

"Athenox!" Mrs. shouts as she runs over to me.

I regain consciousness within a few seconds. It is not a long time but when I come back to my senses I am on the ground. I try to get up but am unable to move.

"I can't move at all. What is happening?"

"I am not sure, but I do not think that you can continue your training today. It must be a side effect of some kind. Does it feel like it is showing signs of lessening at all?"

"If it was, then I would be moving whatever I could."

"Alright, well then I am going to have to take you back to your dorm."

"Take me? But how can you do that? We just established that I can't move." She picks me up and puts me on her back as the arena transforms back into normal.

"Put me down!"

"Athenox, do you have another way of getting back to your dorm?" She takes me by force as we continue out of the arena.

"I guess not, but this is a little ridiculous. I don't know of any magical side effect that can cause full on paralysis."

"It is bizarre. I will look at the data from today in order to see what exactly is happening with your powers. I will even have the upperclassmen take a look."

"Ok, but do you think it would be okay if you kept it to them, I do not want to seem like a complete loser to my teammates."

"Why would you think that? You are in completely new territory on your magic abilities. It would be stranger if you didn't run into any problems. Any of your peers would be the same under the given circumstances. That is a thing about void. Each user will run into a different set of problems in their training, and because of our limited numbers it is hard to determine what is considered a normal behavior in the magic and what is not, but if it makes you feel any better. I promise to keep the number of people who know about this to a minimum."

*Mrs. is carrying Athenox in the Saber Dormitory. She is taking him back to his bedroom and dropping him off. Scene 5.*

"I am very sorry to that you have to do this for me. It must be a pain that you have to help me so much."

"It is not. I would help any student who reached out when they needed it. Besides you are officially an active member of the Elite Combat Team, which makes you my student. It is my responsibility to make sure that you are all in good condition. Not to mention that I know when you are able to, you will put your best effort back into the Teams objectives." She places me on the bed.

"So if you think it is okay, are we going to continue my training tomorrow?"

"If it can be determined that this is not a critical situation, then yes. Do not worry, and get your rest without trying anything. Not that I think you can in this state." She walks out, and I pass out.

*Athenox is able to walk and receives a message from Mrs. to discuss the findings from the training yesterday. In the Elite Combat Team's student organization building. Scene 4.*

"So I got your message. Did you find anything out?"

"Actually it was Mr. who figured it out, so I will let him explain in." Mr. is standing next to Mrs.'s desk.

"Thank you. So I was doing a little more research into the cloaking enchant on your sword, Caliburn that is. You said before that the enchantment would only break when you empowered it over a certain level, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I will explain it. You told Mrs. that you could only replicate her weapon after striking against it enough for your mana to be absorbed into it. It is almost the same process, except there is one difference that stops you from being knocked out after you summon your own blade."

"Which would be?

"Had you ever seen Arondight before? Do you personally know of the blade?" Mrs. interjects.

"No, I have not. The name seemed kind of familiar. Maybe I heard about it in a book or something, but not enough to recognize it. So what you are saying is that I passed out just because I had never seen the blade before?"

"Well more specifically, it is because of your unfamiliarity of the weapon that you had to overload your nervous system trying to scan the entire structure of Arondight with your magic energy down to a level of detail that would allow you to produce a competent replica."

"Essentially, the more I know about a weapon beforehand, then the less strain I am going to have if I were to try and replicate the weapon? I do not know that much about my own weapon and I could still summon it."

"I think that is because it is the sword you are the best trained with. You have consistently used it enough since you were probably a very young age, so it is established as your weapon. That is why you got to a point to where you could summon it automatically without saying its name. Trying to figure out more about your own weapon would indeed help you summon it more efficiently, but I doubt that it is required. We called you here to inform you of a second thing as well." Mr. explains.

"What is it?"

"Since you seemed to have recovered your mana control quite well and do not seem to be in any real danger, so long as you do not overload your powers beyond your limit. We have decided that we are ending your training early so that you may rejoin your team. You will finish your originally scheduled training this weekend as planned. I also took the liberty as being a student organization faculty leader of building your schedule based off of all your current data, and waiving the remaining class tests as it is unlikely that we will get any good data from them since they are your lowest classes. I have to ask two things of you before you are dismissed."

"Sure, what are they?"

"First, do you like archery? In your initial phase of testing you seemed to be doing fairly well at it and I didn't know whether to put you Mr.'s class with the other team members or not."

"It was actually kind of a fun challenge, before I blew myself up. So yes I would like that. What is the second thing?"

"Secondly I want you to try summoning your weapon before you go in there to train with the others. I have a better feeling about it this time." Mrs. asks me.

"Ok here goes. Dark sword, Caliburn!" I reach my right arm out as I feel the void energy materialize. It seems to flow more consistently than yesterday. When I open my eyes I get a look at the sword. The enchantment doesn't seem to be there anymore, and the sword seems to be back to its original construction unlike the weaker attempt I made yesterday.

"You addressed the sword by its name and declared it as your own. I am sure that if you tried to summon it without saying its name the cloaking would return." That is good to find out, but I still need to work harder on summoning because from the looks of it this blade seems to be only have 85% structural integrity. This means that I can only channel 85% of whatever its maximum potential magic energy cap is before it will overload and explode. This is for sure better than only being able to put 15% into it, which would barely even be able to contain physical force and could easily be crushed by my fists.

"Mrs. if I may be excused to go rejoin with my group and start training."

"You may but do not push yourself too hard, especially with any of your newfound abilities. Master your own sword first, before you go and take anyone else's."

"Got it."

*Athenox leaves the room and meets his group in a designated room of the organization's building to train with his group. Scene 6.*

"Athenox, it is good to officially that you have made a hastily recovery and are now able to join your teammate. I am Connor Kaminski." The one obviously named Connor shakes my hand.

"Yeah it is always nice to put a name to the data reports. The name is Eric mac Roich, it is a pleasure to get to instruct someone with such a rare talent." Eric is more formal and gives me a fist bump instead.

The two figures definitely seem to have more physically tough builds, especially Eric who is carrying what appears to be his phantasm weapon over his shoulder even though it looks like the size of a tree trunk and shaped like a metal drill head. Connor is holding a more normal sized sword. It is a golden sword with some kind of blue jewel in the hilt of the blade, which in my opinion would make trying to incapacitate or disarm someone a lot harder but that is very irrelevant right now.

"Athenox are you okay? How did your training go?" Devin asks me.

"There was a few unexpected discoveries, but considering I nearly learned a new type of magic in one day, I think it went pretty well. I wouldn't be here otherwise. Enough about me though, I never got to meet the other 2 members of our team. I as you heard yesterday, I am Athenox Emiya. It will be a pleasure to work with you. I bow graciously.

"My name is Alexander Ryuudou and I am a Lancer mage."

"My name is Adam Fujimara and I am a Caster mage." They introduce themselves, respectively.

"Ok now that we all know who we are. We were in the middle of explaining the combat tests that you are going to have tomorrow. Which as Mrs. said will be a one versus one match against a randomly selected opponent. However, while the opponent will be random I can almost guarantee that the class of enemy you will be facing will be whatever your lowest skilled class is, starting with the Saber mages." Connor says.

"What do you mean?"

"Well they go through each of the Saber mages and match them up with whatever will be the class that they themselves have the least skill, and therefore the least chance of success with. Then they work their way up until everyone is paired against something that they have relatively low skill in."

"Why would they use Saber mages?"

"Saber mages are typically more capable of taking on things that are positioned lower on their list with a greater chance of success, and because there are so many of them. They are the second most common type of mage, only with Caster having more. This way it covers most of the student base and allows for a fairer fight."

"It would be a fairer fight if they were just using normal weapons from their class, but it would be impossible to come up with counters for everyone's phantasm weapon. So it isn't the most fair and will just come down to skill to take down your opponent." Eric states.

"Which is why we are going to ask the Saber mages in the group what their lowest class is and have them go up against it. So Devin, what is your weakest class?"

"Assassin." Devin admits unwillingly.

"Great, because as you know Miraldes is an Assassin mage. So you will be sparring against her."

"Athenox, what about you?"

"Lancer is my lowest because of reasons."

"Well Alexander here is a Lancer mage so you will be sparring with him."

"And Adam since you are a Caster mage, we will spar against you so that you can try to be prepared for Monday. Even though we are both Saber mages, we have a little experience in some of the other classes and can give you a few pointers."The third combat group starts their sparring in order to be more prepared for their first real assignment.

*End of episode 4.*


	5. Chapter 5

Fate/Academy: Episode 5

*Athenox is in Mr.'s first year survival class. Pretty much all of the first year members of the Elite Combat Team are here as well. Scene 1.*

"I hope everyone had a great weekend to prepare for the first week of classes. Especially after your freshman orientation and combat tests. As you all know from reading your schedules, this is first year survival training. Anyone whose schedule does not say that, please come up and show me and I will write you a pass." Mr. continues to over explain basic procedures and operations of how to read and write as he goes over the class syllabus.

I was so excited to fight today. I sparred so much with Alex over the weekend to have a better understanding of how a Lancer attacks and I am ready. Apparently however, the school administration doesn't hold official fights until the end of the day and we are currently only in our third class out of seven. From what the upperclassmen have told me, the reason for this is in case someone where to get injured. So they do not miss any of their other classes for the day. It makes sense but it is not the best thing to sit through given that most of this courses knowledge is not new to me and I learned it at my middle school in Undercity.

"Athenox." Mr. says to me to get my attention.

"Huh? Yes Mr.?"

"Since you looked so deeply focused on the material of this class. I will have you answer this question."

"Certainly."

"What did I just get done saying was in this box?" He points at an aggressively shaking box on his desk.

"A corrupted spirit creature, or known in some regions as corruption or curse, and due to the size of the box and the creatures urgent desire to want out of the box to start killing and corrupting. I would say that it is a wild animal spirit like a wolf or lion."

"Wow, you could have just stopped at corrupted spirit but I am impressed given that I only declared it as a corrupted spirit. Your astounding level of knowledge in this area is appreciated but your ability to listen would be much more so."

"Showoff. How does he even know that?" Luke mutters loudly from his desk.

I suppose that I could get up in front of the class and upstage his lack of knowledge on corrupted spirits that comes from him never having actually fought any in his life, but honestly I just want class to be over.

"Mr. Matou, since you do not know how to mutter any quieter. Please attempt to explain what a corrupted spirit is."

"How are we supposed to know? They have existed since before recorded history." Luke responds.

"I might have even accepted that answer around 980,000 years ago, but since it is mostly common knowledge that in our recovery of numerous artifacts and magical analysis we have figured out that… Yes Ms. Tohsaka?"

"That spirits are the magical essences of the souls of living things who had died before the event referred to commonly in many text found after as the cursing, even though it is nearly impossible to find any text before that explain the cause of the event or the immediate after effects…"

"Thank you, Ms. Tohsaka. That is quite enough. I am not going to go in to a history lecture because I am sure that Mrs. Muluroma either has or will have given you that lecture by the end of the day. Oh!" Mr. looks at the clock.

"It seems as if we will have to wait until tomorrow to finish the demonstration. Class is dismissed." I walk out of class hoping he wasn't about to perform a live dissection.

*Mrs. is in a room full of what appear to be computer server mainframe that are flowing and pulsating with magical energy. Scene 2.*

"So Mrs. Lanslac, is there something that displeases you about the randomization system that we use?" Mr. Ambronensis asks while Mrs. is typing on a computer terminal.

"I do in fact. I do not think that it would be fair to put someone else at the mercy of fighting one of my well trained students on the combat team. So I am assigning all of the team members to fight each other, to give them an actual challenge compared to an average student."

"That is a lot of confidence that you have in your team. I guess I will have to keep that in mind when planning any upcoming student combat events. Or is it maybe because of that irregularity that you have on the team? Are you possibly trying to help him because he is a fellow void mage to you? I know you wouldn't risk your job being so sentimental to a student that you haven't even known or taught for a week? Fine I will trust your judgement in evaluating your students this time, but if you feel the need to make changes to events in the future. Then I suggest you let me know about it before you make them and not after when I catch you making the change. Are we clear?"

"Yes Mr. Ambro, we are very clear." Mr. Ambro walks out of the room.

"I have done all I can to help you today. The rest is going to be up to you, Athenox."

*Due to this being the first test for the entire student body of Avalon Academy. The floor of the arenas on the 4th floor and the ceiling of the auditorium on the 3rd floor have been opened up to provide extra seating for students waiting for their fight and extra space for more arenas to allow for more fights. Athenox and the other freshman are in a section of the auditorium with the possibly the worst seating to view the matches from and are waiting to be called up. Scene 3.*

"Do any of you guys think that the arenas are in a very dangerous configuration to fight someone in, because couldn't someone fall off?"

"Yeah I was a little worried about that, myself but Eric and Connor explained that when the reality marbles are bounded around the arenas they have a magic barrier that would prevent anyone from leaving the arena through any other means than being teleported out when the match is over." Devin insists.

"Well that is good to know." I say with a partial sense of relief.

However, I do not think that being enclosed with a mage that you are bound to get destroyed by with the only way of escape is to be defeated is a comforting thought. I would almost rather take a dive off of the side of the arena.

"So do you have any ideas about who you would possibly have to fight today?" Alex asks us.

"I already know it is going to be an Assassin and looking at any of the candidates doesn't make me feel better. I couldn't even think about trying to fight any Assassin on the team. They are all so skilled. It was impossible to try to keep up with you, Miraldes. Your speed combined with your gloves makes you a force to be reckoned with." Devin says.

"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad. My gloves, Járngreipr can only do so much damage when you manage to catch them with your blades." Miraldes responds.

"I couldn't even imagine if you were to fight against our teams other freshman Assassin, Gabriel. I have never gotten a chance to see him fight yet, but Micheal was telling me the other day that his weapons are called the Ripper Knives. He seems to also have a lot of presence concealment magic under the shadow affinity. That with his speed would make him a real challenge to fight, considering you wouldn't be able to see him until he has already started to attack."

"Well then please don't let me have to fight him." Devin makes hand gestures closely associated with praying or pleading.

"What do you think Athenox, I know you are probably going to have a tough time against a Lancer since they can attack just as fast as you with a larger attack range. Plus your limited mobility." Alex lists at great lengths the ways in which I will likely not win against a Lancer mage.

"You know you say limited mobility like I am a stationary target who can only move a few meters before running out of breath. I can run the short distances required to evade most standard attacks. My biggest problem will be the weapon. Most lances can attack from about twice the length of my sword, even more if they use a thrown ability. Not to mention that Lancers are a physical attack class just like Sabers, Berserkers, and most Assassins. So I won't have an advantage with my physical enhancement magic."

Not to mention the fact that I have not even tried to use my enhancement magic yet, so I do not even know if I can at this point. I do of course have those void abilities I discovered from sparring with Mrs., but I haven't been able to train with them since so they are questionable as well. Compared to the enhancement magic I at least know that void works so I will have to use it. I feel confident enough with my sword to activate it properly.

"You seem to know what you are doing, and you could always see my empowered strikes coming. If training with Mrs. did go well enough then you should have figured out a few void abilities, Right?"

"They are too volatile to rely on in real combat, but I will manage. I feel worse for you guys, because you have no way of knowing what you are going to have to fight until you get in the arena. Sabers can at least go off of what class they fighting. You guys may be fighting a Saber or you may be someone's second or in worst case third lowest class. That will require some real on the spot strategizing and your advantages will be really small." The marks on Devin's and Miraldes's I.D. start glowing.

"It looks like I am up." Devin says.

"Me too." Miraldes says.

"Good luck, Miraldes."

"You too, Devin." They get teleported up to the arenas and from here we cannot tell which of the arenas they went to.

"Can you guys see them on one of the display screens?"

"You are not going to believe this. Look!" Adam points at one of the screens.

They are on the same arena.

They are going to have to fight each other.

We tune into it and can hear bickering between the two.

"We are fighting each other?" Devin says.

"It is random after all. I just hope that you take the defeat before it gets too painful for you. Forfeiting is always an option." Miraldes proudly states.

"Forfeiting? Why would I Forfeit? I am going to win, and also I take back my good luck because you don't need it." Devin says offended.

"You are right about that. I can defeat you without luck." Miraldes charges at Devin.

"That is not what I meant, but fine." Devin starts to charge in on Miraldes. They clash and Devin manages to withstand the pounding and send Miraldes back.

"You know until just a minute ago they were respectful friends to each other."

"Yeah but considering that our first grade is on the line. The first assignment that will adjust our school rankings. Between matches like these and our participation in class it will determine who has the highest grades amongst the freshman class."

Miraldes starts to empower her gloves as electric energy is conducted from her gloves. Her speed nearly doubles as she runs towards Devin.

"This may be a fast match for Devin." Alex says.

"Devin seems to be handling himself pretty well." Adam says.

Devin summons a black bull with a purple and red saddle and then starts riding it.

"He seems to have found a clear counter to Miraldes's increased movement speed. He summoned a spirit beast to ride. This allows him to move almost as fast as Miraldes without draining his body physically. The only downside is the mana drain required to summon and ride the bull for a prolonged amounts of time. Considering Devin is pulling off an ability from his second class, and not his first. However the lightning that is erupting from the bulls feet seems to be creating a field that negates a great deal of the electricity from Miraldes and the force the bull generates from stomping may be enough to knock her off of her feet."

"Yeah but do you think that one bull spirit is enough to outrun or negate Miraldes?"

"If anything this is a stall tactic to give him time to think. He can't really charge in with the bull because it would use up the entirety of the magic energy he put into it all at once and it would disappear which would put him back at his normal speed."

"How long do you plan to keep this up? Other people have to duel on this arena also." Miraldes taunts Devin.

She is able to keep up with the bull just fine, but she isn't getting close. I have to wager it is because Devin was right. The bull's electrical interference is actually keeping Miraldes on her toes. If Devin can realize that then all he would have to do is run the bull into her and while she is weakened from the lightning pulses unleash a series of attacks. Miraldes would rapidly regain the advantage so if he couldn't finish her off in one set of attacks, then she would be able to catch his blades or even disarm him completely. All that is left would be a knockout.

"How long do you plan to be so evasive?" Devin asks back.

"You're the one running though!" She says.

"Do something about it then!" He says.

"Fine I will!"

She jumps into the air and slams her fists into the ground creating a shockwave that pulses across the whole arena and disrupts the bull's, which causes it to diffuse. That sends Devin sliding into the ground. Before he can regain his bearings, Miraldes gut punches him. The shock knocks him unconscious. Miraldes is declared the winner. She ports back to where we are sitting. At that moment mine and Alex's I.D. tags start to glow.

"Um, Miraldes. Can you go check on Devin in the infirmary? So you can make sure that you didn't kill him. When we get done with our matches we will be right there."

"He isn't hurt that bad. The arena took most of the damage."

"I am more referring to his psychological state, but that gut punch at the end probably didn't help."

"Fine. I will see you all there. Good luck."

"Thank you." Alex and I say back simultaneously.

Based on the match that just happened I cannot help but get the feeling that I know who my opponent is already. When I flash into the arena, it is not as surprising that Alex is in front of me.

"Something doesn't seem right about the match randomization system. Not that there is anything we can do about it right now."

"I agree. Besides, we never got to go full force in our sparring matches. Now we can see who has more skill."

I put my gloves on so that I will be able to have a better control over my magic.

"It will be an honor to truly find out what you are capable of."

"Likewise."

"Sword staff of the Blue River!" He shouts as the weapon appears in his hands.

He told me that it was a modified summoning of the weapon. He learned to modify it at a young age to better suit his family's well trained fighting style, taught to him by his father who is the currently one of the head trainers at the Grand South E.A.S.T. academy which is the leading high school for all air magicians. He didn't tell me why he choose to come here instead, but that is not important.

"Caliburn, Dark Sword of Determination!" The blade appears in my hand without the cloaking enchant.

It is not useful in this fight, because he has already seen it before when we were sparring. Our weapons at the ready, we charge straight for one another. The exchanging of strikes begins. The length of his staff allows him with more attack range and the placement of his hands on the weapon allow him to control the strikes better. He is empowering his weapon. I can feel the air magic going into the staff, which seems to speed up his strikes. I would not be able to keep up if not for my own attack speed. He then attacks with a heavy sweeping strike. I manage to lean back and avoid it. If I would have taken it head on, then the force of the attack would sent me flying. I take advantage of the apparent opening left by the strike. I charge in only to be caught by the back of the spear.

"I have trained most of my life to master this weapon. I am used to its weight and will not be staggered back from my own attack."

It is also worth mentioning that he didn't stagger just because of his skill, but that did help. He took advantage of the properties of air magical energy. When empowering the staff with it, his staff probably got lighter. The one thing he is unable to do however, is to generate enough force with the back if the spear to force me back. I shouldn't try to give up my ground in order to counter attack. He would be able to strike me at least two times before I would be out of his weapons range.

"This may not be the best time to ask this, but what is with your gloves? You used them against Luke on the first day of school, and you are wearing them now against me. So what are they for?"

"Not it is fine. These gloves are a very special part of my magical training. Or at least they were before I became a void mage. They are not anywhere near as powerful as Miraldes's, but I can use them in a unique way. Honestly though, they are not going to be much help against a melee fighter like you. The fact that I could reliably use them against Luke for so long was miracle and had he not drained his mana so quickly and kept fighting, I may have lost that fight."

I have yet to try them with my void power but I was only intending to use them to control my magic flow. The air magic makes his weapon too fast and sharp to catch and disarm him. His mana and intelligence is also much greater than that of Luke's so trying to trying to force a mana drain is impossible. I start to empower the blade and disengage from the staff, but instead of leaping straight back I throw my weapon over his head. I then rush along the mana trail of my blade and catch it as I appear behind Alex, catching another one of his strikes. This puts us back in a standstill. This is better than him having his full attack range, because I have a feeling that his full empowerment will take full advantage of that.

"That was a very unique move that you just did. Displacement like that is barely even possible by mastered air magic users at the top of the faction. My father is a different story." Alex says as he is sure of himself.

He rushes behind me and kicks me back. He has his attack range again. I wasn't paying close enough attention to his mana flow. It just spiked. I need to prevent whatever he does next, especially if he uses his full empowerment. His staff. He is starting to empower it, but he is not rushing in for a strike. He starts to spin the staff in the air which creates a massive downward draft that sends me back into the wall. I need to escape it, and there is so much mana in the air now that I can displace again if I need to. He currently thinks that displacing like that is the only ability I have, or at least it is the only ability he can expect. With his air magic, it seems as if he can counter it also. I have an idea.

"Master your own blade before you go and take someone else's" Mrs.'s advice runs through my head.

I remember what Mrs. told me before, but that will be the best way to gain an advantage over him. I will use my void abilities to directly counter him. I trace the mana through the air and into the damaged parts of his weapon summoning I created from my earlier strikes. He has not absorbed it in quite the same fashion like Mrs. did but it should be enough. His weapon is a modified summon of a sword. Its name is the Sword of the Blue River, and it is a katana, which is a two handed sword designed for fast and skilled strikes instead of heavy powerful swings. I map out all of the information I have on the blade in my head. I reach my hand out and the blade appears before me. The sight of it seems to have stopped Alex in the middle of his torrent.

"How did you?" He asks as he is standing there shocked.

I could end it now, but I think that would be a little harsh considering I just took the blade from right out of his hands, technically.

"It is one of those volatile void abilities I told you that I had earlier. I traced the mana in the air and the mana from my blade into your staff from when our weapons clashed. I could then map out the structure of your blade and reproduce it, however I summoned it in its original form. Although because of my inexperience, I was only able to do so because of all that you told me about it when we were sparring this weekend."

"I am impressed. If you truly wish to face me with my own weapon, then so be it." He tosses the staff aside and it disappears.

"Sword of the Blue River!" The blade appears in his hand like a flurry of wind.

It looks cleaner and sharper in his hands, compared to the one I summoned in my hand which has taken on slightly darker purple tone. It looks to be in better shape structurally as well. I look at my copy. It is harder to gauge this blade since I have never used it before but I would say it sit around 65% integrity and Alex's is close to about 80% only so low because he doesn't usually maintain the summon in this form. Mine is just below the point where I could use the full empowerment on it, not that I know how to anyway. The blade probably also would not let me anyway since my mana type does not match.

"Just because my fighting style does not take advantage of a two handed sword style does not mean that I am unfamiliar or untrained with it, in fact it is easier to activate my full empowerment this way. I think I would even be right to say that, in terms of curved blades, I probably have more skill than you."

"You would be correct as I have no formal training in curved blades, due to my lack of interest in their curved construction. I do however know that it doesn't take much to perform a proper swing with one that has been that has been summoned with air magic. I would even wager that I could swing with a second one in my other hand."

I reach out and create another Sword of the Blue River. I modified the summoning so easily? I didn't expect it work so well. I only thought that is worked for Mrs.'s weapons because I was modifying preexisting swords in the reality marble. This may give me the upper hand.

"It is time to end this, Athenox." The amount of mana in his blade is at its limit.

This is definitely his full empowered ability. If I can manage to dodge it then I will easily be able to overpower him and finish it. As the attack starts and I close in, I sense something weird in his attack pattern.

"Quantum Strike…" He raises his blade.

My detection can't be right. If it were than I would have to block from three directions. I can't doubt it. His affinity is air so it is possible that he is manipulating the air around him to cause his blade to appear in three locations at once. I cannot discern which one is real of if they all are, so this is my best option.

"Swallow Reversal!" The blade lowers.

I use my two blades to deflect the side strikes, while I jump in the air and catch the downward strike with my foot. Leaping over Alex and unleashing an attempted flurry of strikes with the blades. Dropping him to his knees. Within that one second I may have moved faster than I have ever had to move in my life. I may have even stopped breathing. The board overhead announces that I am the winner and Alex is teleported out of the arena to the Infirmary for a checkup, not that I think I did a lot of damage to him but I could not tell. I am teleported out of the arena back to where our seats were. It seems as if Adam has already been teleported to his match. I will send him a message telling him that we are going to see if Devin is still in the infirmary. Even though he may have already figured out how Alex got there.

*Through either one of two different methods, our group has ended up in the infirmary. Devin seems to be okay now, and Alex should be okay in a few hours. Scene 4.*

"Athenox we watched your match with Alex, and we couldn't really see how it ended. We watched it but it too fast. One second you were against the wall of the arena. The next you had his weapon in your hands. After that it seemed like you were behind him and he was down. So what happened?" Miraldes asks with a very confused look on her face as she herself was unable to interpret the events of my fight.

"My abilities seemed to have gotten the upper hand against his air affinity. I copied his blade and modified the summon allowing me to have two swords. Which I used against his final ability. Alex will explain it better when he wakes up, because I am honestly not quite sure how the attack worked myself. I just did my best to block it. Say were there any other worthwhile matches today." I ask the group

"Were there? There were a ton. Especially ones with our team members. I had to fight Luke. It wasn't too bad and I could trick him fairly easy. Jane went up against Macy, but I think Mary got the worst deal out of all of us. She had to fight against Justin." Adam explains.

"Wait what? That match shouldn't have happened under the randomization system. They are both Saber mages." I reply.

"Yeah she didn't understand it either, but the referees didn't intervene. She tried her best but Ea was just too much for her. She took a lot of serious damage in the fight. Justin won in an almost instantaneous victory." The explanation continues.

"Where is she? I need to go talk to her." I say.

"She is a few rooms down the hall. Why do you need to talk to her?" Miraldes answers me.

"Because as of right now, only two people in the school have gone head to head against Justin von Einzbern and his phantasm. It takes a lot out of you even if you win, and a lot more if you do not."

I walk out of the room and find the room where she is. When I walk in, the three Tohsaka sisters are in the room. Mary is lying in the bed and Sarah and Jane are sitting in chairs.

"What are you doing in here?" Sarah asks abruptly.

"I heard what happened."

"So, what is your point? There is not much about it that can be done now. She already lost." Sarah states.

"That may be but you are probably unaware of how the fight played out. Aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Jane asks.

"There is no such thing as a fair fight when it comes to Justin. He doesn't hold back, and he does not concern himself with the well being of others. He only sees himself as the best and everyone he views beneath him is not worth his time. Should you try to make a move against him, and his sword will have made at least fifty swords project toward you with enough speed to skewer you and leave you riddled with holes. While he may be a Saber mage, he does not act with a code of honor for handling your blade that is taught by most disciplines. His training is to use the sword like that of a rapier but he never even strikes against foes he claims worthy. So I imagine that after the referees ignored the call that this match shouldn't have happened. She charged in with her sword, made it about half the distance of the arena before he opened up on her and didn't stop until she wasn't moving at all, and then had to be teleported out immediately because the damage she took was too much for the arenas field to absorb."

"How did you know that? Did you watch the match?" Jane asks in shock as she pulls up the match results on a screen in the room.

"He is right." Mary says as she tries to raise her head up. Wincing in pain at every attempt.

"Oh Mary, please lay back down and rest so that you can regain your energy."

"I didn't need to watch the match. I myself have seen it firsthand, and even fought against it so that others could escape. Also judging by her condition he used one of the blades special abilities. In addition to projecting swords, the blade is also capable of producing chains that can bind enemies and leave them stuck as it drains magic energy out of their target. It has a stronger affect depending on how powerful the user's phantasm weapon happens to be, especially against light magic."

"The doctors didn't even know what had happened. They didn't know how a physically damaging attack could have left her so mana drained."

"I never got to see her use her weapon, but it looks like it is a powerful one if it had to take this much damage. May I ask what it is?"

"It is a powerful weapon but I do not think that we should just be throwing that information out there like that to someone like you. What if in some other match you have to fight her? She would have already told you and then you could just do the same thing that Justin did."

"It is not my nature to take unfair advantages against people, and even if it were. I would be forsaking my own honor."

"Honor? Aubrey told me that you come from Undercity, and so is Justin. How can someone who comes from there know anything about honor?" Sarah keeps pressing.

"I am just going to right that off as your concern for your sister. I ask because if I more about what the weapon is, then I can try and mitigate the injuries that she has."

"So what, first you're a knight and know you are a healer? What is next? Are you going to tell me that you use a bow and make rainbows?" Sarah knows how to be mean.

Although I cannot specifically decipher the part about rainbows or bows.

"I think we should let him try to help. If he has expertise on the type of injuries that Mary received from Justin, then it would be a waste to not use it. Since he is offering. If Mary is okay with it?"

Not long after she says that, Mary summons her weapon in the air while she is laying down. I catch it before getting a full look at it. I am in shock as I find out that it is cloaked, just like my blade when I do not say its name.

"Well I guess that is one compromise." Jane says.

I grip the blade by the handle.

"A cloaking enchant? I guess I can work around it."

"What are you possibly going to do with it?"

"You would have a better clue if you were a Saber mage. Unlike Casters or even Archers, who can free flow their mana into projectiles. Sabers can easily transfer mana through their hands into their blade, almost passively as we use it and more actively when we empower the weapon. I am using my mana to detect her mana and the damage Justin inflicted with the mana from his sword."

"Uh oh." I say out loud.

"It is holy mana so what is the big deal?"

"I know that. I am trying to… I apologize."

"Apologize for what exactly?"

"My mana is void, which from what I have found out that means it can absorb or analyze other magic."

"I still do not get what that means." She replies as a bright flash of light erupts from the sword causing the cloaking enchantment to break and leave behind the full appearance of the sword.

"It means that even before the enchantment broke, I still was able to see the sword upon using my mana on it, and then while I was trying to absorb the damage from the blade that took the form of fragments of his mana in the weapon, I also absorbed the cloaking enchant. "

"You can't be serious, can you? You had one job. Which was to fix my sister and not have her blade revealed in the process. I think you should leave now."

"No, that is not necessary Sarah." Mary speaks as she sits up in the bed.

"How did you do that?" Jane asks.

"It was a bit of a gamble but since void can absorb magic energy, and a Sabers blade is the core of their magic energy as all phantasm weapons are summoned from the user's soul. The damage he did to her with the chains was severe because of what the blade is. The holy magic from her soul in a physical form, nearly considered divine. Which is what his chains are the most effective against. It is the reason that the holy council keeps their distance from Undercity. The Von Einzbern's are known for tricks like this. It is all my father can do to keep them in check, but no one can legally stop one of their spawn from attending a neutral academy of his own accord. Especially if he puts on a face for the admission boards."

"Wait did you say that you absorbed the damage?"

"Yes that is correct." I say.

Immediately, I drop to my knees.

"I have a much stronger resistance to it because I am not of holy magic descent. I am again very sorry about your blade. I promise not to tell anyone about it."

"It is fine but I have to ask. Have you seen the blade before?" Mary says.

"Everyone has heard about it at least by reputation and the inciting the name of the weapon alone is enough to cause people to rethink their actions. I myself would not even feel right by saying it out loud. It is perhaps one of the best swords known to mankind. Its legend survived the cursing and was one of the first recovered pieces of history. Not to mention that it is probably the most sought after models for a Saber mages phantasm weapon."

"You seem to know a lot about it. Do you know who wielded it?"

"Not even I know that one. While all of our weapons are weapons given to us from what we believe to be past fighters or heroes of long ago, not many weapons have been successful of having their original wielder identified. The recorded history just is not clear enough, and the only reason that we know of their names is because of the impulse the weapons send us when we summon them. One of the few exceptions are both in this room."

"What do you do, just sit around and stare at other people's weapons all day?"

"No but anyone who can read a newspaper would know about the Tohsaka family's heirloom phantasm weapons. The fact that a phantasm weapon can be kept track of and handed down for what is believed to be easily over a million years is an astounding accomplishment."

"I do suppose that our father does like to flaunt our family's status a little too much." Jane declares.

"I want to thank you properly, but we have never been introduced. I heard you name at the Team practice over the weekend and it sounded strange to me. Would you mind telling me?" Mary asks.

"Of course not. My name is Athenox Emiya, and if you need anything then I would be happy to help. Especially if you want revenge. I would be honored to show Justin why he should not be so reckless."

"I don't think that is necessary, but thank you Athenox."

"Yeah it would be kind of idiotic for you to pick a fight after the whole Luke incident. I would imagine that the Disciplinary Council has their eye all over you. Plus, you also said that you fought him before. He probably has gotten a lot stronger since then and you also got an entire new set of abilities from what Mrs. had said to Aubrey."

"Would you mind if I ask? Who is Aubrey?"

"Aubrey Kotomine is one of the team's co-presidents. Along with Clara Kaminski. Mrs. had told them and all of the upperclassmen about the results of your training."

"And I take it that they let it slip to their groups?"

My face is taking on a red shade of anger. I thought Mrs. would limit the number of people that this got to. Although this cannot really be her fault. She has no control over the mouths of her upperclassmen students, since they are free to say whatever they please in training. And if someone were to inquire about me, then they would feel obligated to inform them of my status.

"Oh come on. What are you so worried that we will find out? We are a team and we are going to find out sooner or later." Sarah says that but I would much prefer later as opposed to sooner.

"Why do you think we were so cautious about you seeing Mary's weapon? We didn't want you to find out about it. I honestly would have enjoyed seeing you faint in the arena."

They told them that much, but why? To be honest, then why didn't Alex know? Connor and Eric didn't tell my team. I see no benefit in excluding them from the loop if you were going to let the rest of the team in on it.

"And no, we are not going to show you our weapons either."

"You are assuming that I would have no way of getting the information required to supplement what I acquire through physical contact with the weapon. In fact the down side of being so famous and popular is that all of your progress and achievements get posted on the internet and printed in newspapers like I just said. However, I myself do not tend to show any interest in staffs, especially a flame staff like the Tohsaka Staff of Intense Flames. I myself may have a little interest in the Tohsaka Blade of Azoth, since it is well known for serving as a great conduit for magic energy conversion and I could even modify them to make them a nice pair of twin blades. If I were to start attempting to copy them even in matches against other opponents, then I am sure it would bring a great deal of honor to the Tohsaka family line. I could even claim that you let me see them."

"I am going to call your bluff because we already know that you can only copy a weapon that you can strike against. You copied Arondight after failing to summon your own weapon. More precisely it was not even a full copy since you had to modify a set of blades already summoned by Mrs.'s reality marble."

"You can't be certain since before today I didn't even know that I could modify the weapon summon. Go ahead and watch my match later. The point is I am not going to use my abilities to take advantage of people but since you insist that I must have some malicious intent just because of where I grew up and who my father is, then maybe I should. Now if you will excuse me, I have to talk to Mrs. about some real and more important matters." I rush out of the room.

I need to get full explanation about this. I want to know why. Why am I in this position? I need to know. I tried to be nice and help them, but all they could do was act defensively and keep me at arm's length.

*End of Episode 5.*


	6. Chapter 6

Fate/Academy: Episode 6

*Athenox walks into the Elite Combat Team's Student organization building and finds Mrs., who is sitting at her desk, and she currently seems to be going through files. Scene 1.*

"Hey Mrs. I need to talk to you."

"You look tense. Would like to discuss your problems over a sparring match?" Her words throw me off.

A sparring match right now. I want to ignore it and just start asking my questions, but I guess if she offers then it would be very disrespectful to say no. Besides I want to master my weapon to increase its own strength, and sparring against an expert swordswomen like her would always be beneficial.

"That sounds great." I can't control the level of frustration in my voice.

I still want to find out why Mrs. decided to do what she did. Manipulate all of the team members around me, on my own team.

"Since I think that your abilities have developed a sense of control that will prevent you from accidentally blowing up anything around you, we won't have to go to the arenas to fight. We will instead fight in the center of the building, in the courtyard." We walk over to the court yard and summon our weapons.

"Oh and since I know that you can handle it now, I will be attacking at full force. You could try to use my weapon again but I doubt you have used it since and all you would be able to manage is very poorly executed swings. I think you will have to come up with some other way of winning."

She is right, and Arondight is heavier and bigger than Caliburn so I would not be able to adjust for that in my attacks. I also know that she has a sense of my void abilities and how to react to them. She rushes in and I cross swords with her once again. This time however, she is moving and attacking faster than before. I can barely keep up off of skill alone.

"So Mrs., why did you only let your upperclassmen tell most of the team about my abilities and not all of them?"

I seem to have no openings for an attack that will land successfully. She must have been holding back a lot while she was training me. I am only able to evade her attacks with no possibility for a counter attack.

"There are quite a few complicated reasons, but they all lead back to you."

She apparently was not just holding back in terms of speed or skill, but also physical strength, because each time I catch a strike with my blade I am sent sliding back at least a few meters. I have never been so hopeless in a fight before.

"I did not want you to possibly lose your first official fight because of a complication in your powers. I think that it would be unfair as your skills are still very remarkable."

I empower and disengage from her blade and leap back, then I throw my sword and displace to it. I catch my blade and try to land a strike but Mrs. evades and I end up slamming the sword into the ground.

"So as I was telling the upperclassman about your abilities after you collapsed in training, I made sure that they did not disclose the information to your team." Mrs. Continues to explain.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want your opponent to know what you could do. I overwrote the randomization system to put you against someone you had just spent the whole weekend sparring and training with. You had a great deal of knowledge about his phantasm weapon to work with. Alex is a very strong fighter but he wouldn't be able to expect something like you copying his weapon. And once he lost his mental footing, your swords skills could get in range and finish the fight."

She is fixing to slam her sword into the ground, but she is not at range to try and hit me. The amount of mana flowing into her blade increases significantly. It is an empowered strike. She wouldn't waste an attack like if she knew it was going to miss, unless it has enough force to still be able to hit me from here. There is no telling how far that attack will reach, so I am not sure that I will have enough time to evade it. I am going to have to absorb it. I plant my sword in the ground and brace for the impact. The physical force of the explosion is overwhelming. I lose grip of my sword and crash into the wall behind me. Immediately hitting the floor afterwards.

"Such a noble way to admit defeat. It seems as if your rapid skill increase over the past few days was not enough to bridge the gap in our skill levels but you are just a freshman in your first week of school so I do not expect much from you. If you ask me I do not think that you were really aggressive enough. You didn't even consider a fully empowered strike." She grabs my hand and helps me up.

"I never use a fully empowered strike. I can't control them and they are destructive beyond all reasoning. You only managed to target me when you used your empowered strike. I would not be able to do the same thing. I would easily destroy the building with it, and that was before I got my void abilities."

"That could be considered a good thing under certain circumstances. Anyway, I do not think that it would have been much of a problem for me to tell the team since they were going to figure out eventually, and as for your group I think it would be better for you to tell them when so that they have a more detailed explanation of how it works. You did look a bit angry when you walked in. What happened?"

I explain to her what I had happened with the Tohsaka sisters earlier.

"Well Athenox, I am glad that you were able to help Mary deal with the negative effects of Ea, but I wish you had a little more understanding about the sisters, or any of the other factions before you got defensive. You insisted that they did not know anything about you or where you came from? I must tell you that you are absolutely right about that. They like most of the children of the Holy Council faction, are trained privately within the territory and are given very little knowledge of other factions specifically of the Undercity faction. The only news they would be able to know of the other factions would be from their parents doing business with the higher ups of the factions they trust, which would never be the dark faction of Undercity. The factions have been locked in a stalemate for a long time, neither wants to acknowledge the other for fear that it will force another Mage war that could plunge the world back into chaos and corruption. The children however do not see it this way and instead think that they are of the elite status because of their affiliation with holy magic. It would be fair to say that Undercity children like yourself are the most in tune with what the world faces, as you all have at some point seen what the corruption is capable of because of the proximity to the source where the highest density of corrupted spirits are. The destruction it can cause, the confusion that it creates, and the fear that it can instill on people. As an officer and as the son of a dark faction leader, I know you have seen your fair share. Well they have not. Instead they are kept safe inside their city's walls. They do not know what it means to fight for the survival of their own lives or to see others ripped away from them with such intensity. Society over the years has forgotten the very reason we exist. It is because of brave heroes who fought, and not amongst themselves but against the evils of the world. Things that are unspeakable, and unbearable. However do not cast them aside because of that. They still possess great power just like every other magus. In fact I divided all of the members of the Team into groups based on how or what I believed you could do the best. I picked the freshman members of each team from what potential they showed and what skills that they already had. And to tell you the truth, Athenox, my decisions did not change even after you got your void abilities."

"What do you mean? What is it that you believe our group to do? What is it that you ask of us?"

"I believe that what you can do will be up to you, but what the Team asks of you is a very important endeavor that I could not ask any other group on the Team to do. This upcoming semester the Team is competing in a world competition. This competition is a series of arena style matches called The Grail War, however they are more than just combat. They require groups to build and manage resources like a business or kingdom in order to survive, because the matches are near constant and last for three full days. This is broken down into three major aspects. A team must be able to gather and prepare as many magical resources in the seven weeks leading up to the event, and they must be able to negotiate and trade with other teams and even negotiate with a panel of judges for additional resources that they want or need. A third team must also be able to effectively use the resources gathered in combat to earn as many points in the arena. Points are earned based off of eliminating other mages and completing bonus objectives. The end of the competition is a final elimination between the last seven teams. The last remaining team wins, and the winning team is rewarded very well. Granting them access to a spell or phantasm weapon of their choosing that they can learn to use. And just as in all school student competition events, their team earns and retains Elite recognition. Elite status is kept for up to ten seasons after a win, and will only be retained longer if the team manages to win another season before then. So I determined that given all of your knowledge from having lived in Undercity combined with your real combat experience that you would be with the group that is gathering resources."

"Wow sounds like an intense competition, but even though I am an expert in fighting the corruption. I have to ask. What is this doing to help me improve?"

"Well Athenox, the competition is to help teach mages to strategize and operate as a team to make them more qualified in the real world. The combat itself helps students become more exposed to the new and developing magecraft from across the world, not to mention that teams also showcase and display their magic research as a part of their marketing. I wonder if they will show any new discoveries about phantasm weapons. The school and the organization that funds the competition will fund you for your participation and in your case you will be financially and academically compensated for each mission. Specific amounts are of course determined by the amount and quality of your work. You will also be allowed extended access to the school facilities such as the armory, library, arenas, and even the cafeteria."

She does seem to know how to hook people into it. I already joined the combat team so I would of course do the activities that they do. I find the financial compensation part very inviting. Maybe if I work hard enough, Dad won't have to work so many nights a week. As a newfound void mage, the part about new developments in magecraft and phantasm weapons does sound intriguing also.

"So when do we start?"

"The official start of preparations is in a few weeks, but all of the groups are going to start their competition training at our first after school meeting tomorrow. Your group is going out into the field in the cursed zones. You are familiar right?"

"The regions between the territories where the corruption have been pushed back into and reside when they are dormant. I used to have to go into the cursed zones outside of Undercity quite frequently."

"Then I can expect that you will show them how it is done?"

"Yes Mrs., and I myself will try not to give Eric and Connor too much trouble."

"It is good to hear that. Now I think that you should get some rest for your long day tomorrow."

*Athenox is sleeping in his dorm and has another dream. Scene 2.*

I am in the desert again but this time there is a very big change. In front of me is a temple with a long staircase ascending to a gate. I unconsciously walk up the staircase and halfway I am stopped by a voice.

"I am ordered not to allow anyone to pass through this gate. Especially you."

"Why are you doing this? I have to pass through to get to my master."

"If you really want to get though then I suggest you fight your way through."

I do not know what he is talking about but I draw my sword and rush him. He draws his sword and steadily raises it while keeping the tip pointed towards me.

"You do not have the luxury of time. How long do you think your master can survive of off luck alone?"

I still do not get what he is saying. I ready my sword for a strike but before I can get in range to catch the blade.

"Concealed Sword! Swallow Reversal!"

The blade guts me and I fall on the steps of the temple. The way he struck with the blade. It is like that move that had Alex had tried during our match. I bleed out as the floor around me plunges into darkness.

"It is not all that special of a trick, but I mastered it in when I attempted the goal of striking down a sparrow mid-flight. It seems as if you are just as frail and weak." I black out.

*It is the next day after school and Athenox is at the Team's building where Mrs., Mr., and the upperclassmen have just gotten done explaining the premise of the competition and what their roles will be for the year to them. Scene 2.*

"All right, now that you all have an understanding of what the competition is your groups are going to start to be trained on how to accomplish their goals. Groups 1 and 2 will stay here while group 3 is to report to the flight deck to head out to the cursed zones. If groups 1 or 2 may need me for assistance then I will be in my office. If group 3 were to need me, then you can call me. Everyone knows where they are going? Ok, then you are all dismissed."

Devin, Miraldes, Alex, Adam, and I all follow Connor and Eric up the elevator to the top floor of the school. The looks on are faces are that of shock because we have never seen it before. It is a large open aircraft hangar with various sizes and models of aircraft. It seems to be vacant.

"I behold to you the Avalon Academy air fleet, well minus a few other ships."

"What do you mean?"

"The fleet is available as a resource to all of student organizations within the academy, but most do not have a need for them other than the occasional transport. So only a few seem to get checked out at a time. The only other organization who uses air vehicles as frequently would be the Elite Defense Forces, mainly for getting back and forth from the city gates and defense outposts."

"Wait I thought that air vehicles were only allowed by military personal as anyone it would be too dangerous for anyone else." Miraldes asks.

"That is technically true but because our school is able to maintain two Elite organizations, we are allowed to own and use them as long as someone with a good enough riding skill is at the controls." Connor states.

"I bet other schools would be envious." Alex says.

"Not so fast. You do know why they ban aircraft in the first place? It is why there are checkpoints setup along the highways that go across territories. It is very dangerous once you leave the cities shielding. You are almost guaranteed to be flocked by corrupted beast spirits." Eric says

"Yeah I heard of early attempts to use flying as a mode of transport within Undercity, but my father told me that it was not worth the trouble of maintaining due to intense amounts of spirits trying to down a ship as soon as it was airborne. Keeping the streets clear is a challenge by itself."

"So which vehicle are we taking?" Devin asks.

"For when we head out on competitions we have that large mobile fortress ship over there. But for small groups like this we usually use one of our seven transport vehicles over here. If our team was at full operation then might actually have a need to use all seven of them at once. I think we should use my favorite one."

He points to a black and orange ship next to the fortress ship. We approach the ship and get in. Connor is piloting since he claims that his riding skill is far better than Eric's.

*The ship lands in a field just outside of a forest. It is still daylight and in the far distance behind them, the walls of the city can be seen along with a roads leading out of the city. The group of freshman get out of the ship and immediately drops to their knees. Scene 3.*

"Oh no, I think I am going to be sick." Devin says as he runs behind view of the ship.

"I do not understand. What did that do to us?" I think my stomach has now officially become more volatile than my mana.

"Did you poison us?" Alex asks as he coughs.

A groaning sound can be heard from behind the ship.

"Whatever it was, I would appreciate it if we could not do it again?" Miraldes says as gasps for air.

"Oh come on. It is not that bad. Haven't any of you guys ever flown on an aircraft before?"

"NO!"

"Well I guess I should have asked beforehand, it is too late now."

"What you are currently experiencing is motion sickness. It is the result of your body trying to adapt to being on an unstable platform such as an aircraft, at high altitudes. It can happen the first time that you fly in a plane or other air vehicle. I guess it hit all of you really hard. The only question is why is it so bad for Devin? His secondary class is Rider, right?"

"I prefer ground mounts!" Devin shouts.

After the motion sickness subsides we all walk into the forests. After Connor and Eric tell us to, we summon our phantasm weapons.

"Okay, if you look up ahead there are our first targets. For the purposes of practice they will supplement. When we have to start gathering for competition though, we will need to find bigger and stronger spirits. Because these do not technically count as spirits."

"What are they?"

"Wraiths. Spirit beings that are the ghastly manifestations of souls. They are said to have been created in mass numbers after the cursing from human and animal souls who got lost in the confusion and died. Any person who suffers at the hand of the corruption will turn into one of these. They are relatively weak in terms of power but can kill trying to siphon off souls. Normally crafted weapons do little to damage them and require spirit weapons like our phantasms to destroy. They are hunted in mass numbers by many crafting vendors to keep up with supply demands because they are weaker. As a result anything you buy from a vendor will be weaker quality."

"You know a lot. I knew that you would know things about spirits, having grown up in Undercity but I was not aware of the full extent." Eric says in shock.

"Athenox, how do you know that much?" Devin asks.

Well if they are going to be my teammates and we are in the field, then I guess it would be beneficial to inform them of my expertise. Besides, they do seem trustworthy.

"Because my name is Athenox Emiya and my father is the current leader of the Undercity faction. Also known as Hades Emiya. I grew up in Undercity as his son and learned a lot about the spirits because they would tend to frequently attack the territory because of the city's proximity to what is believed to be the origin point of the cursed. I gained experience in gathering them because my father had to in order to maintain business within the city."

"I do not know much about Undercity but it is great that you know so much." Devin says.

"What kind of business?" Miraldes asks me.

"Well you know it is kind of funny. He was the leader of the faction and maintained business and relations between the other factions within the city. Specifically, the gathering and distribution of spirit essences, and on occasion distributing of magic goods crafted from those essences."

"That still does not explain how you know all of this. If you were training to become a mage, then the most he would have told you about his job would have been when? At the dinner table?"

"There is the next thing. I was not just his son, I was the one of the highest ranking officers in his army because of how much further in my mage training I had been than everyone else in my class at school. He gave me command of an elite unit when I was 10, known as the Reaper Squadron. So I was running some of the operations and if we are being perfectly honest, some of these operations also involved persuading members of other factions within the city. Which is why my father taught me counter magic as an extra method of dealing with those members, and it is also what I used against Luke."

"I am going to need you to repeat that, did you just say that you had command of an elite unit at 10 years old?" Alex says for confirmation.

"It does sound hard to believe, but we did a full background search on his records from Undercity and it is true. Even more impressive is that his unit was made up of a group of equally aged mages just like him." Eric says.

"Anyway as Athenox had said. These are wraiths and we are going to be using them for practice, so that you can get a good understanding of how they and other corrupted spirits work. We will explain as we go. Now it is critical to know that basic formation tactics will work against these but against a tougher spirit they usually do not tend to be as effective."

"So for now, Athenox do you think you will be able to them off long enough for your team members to figure out a strategy."

"Easy enough."

"Okay, be sure to get them in a group. You are going to get a better idea once you are in combat. For starters, Adam you should keep a safe distance off of the group so you can cast ranged spells to pick off the ones that Athenox is holding, as well as any stragglers but be sure not to stray too far off that you attract any extra. Miraldes and Devin, you should help Athenox take them down while they are focused on him. Alex, you should be ready for when Athenox gets to you so that you can sweep attack and deal with the majority of the group. Since this is your first time, we will help get any that stray."

Typically I was the one who dealt with the majority of the group with my full empowerment but I learned to be versatile. As I rush in first with my group behind me, I notice that there seems to be about 100 wraiths in the area. I activate empowerments in my hands, feet, and chest. I will be able to run long enough to get their attention. I start swinging and it gets them to notice. I empower my weapon and start slamming it around to get their attention. I circle up a fairly large group and start guiding them around. It takes a few minutes for Devin, Miraldes, and Alex to get positioned around the group. Adam seems to be about 10 meters behind us. Just far enough so that he does not run the risk of being attacked by the group we are dealing with nor any groups around us. He has also told us that 10 meters is about medium range for his Staff of the Trickster, which suits his shadow affinity. Devin and Miraldes are attacking from my left and right side, but due to Miraldes having a greater attack speed than Devin, there is an uneven distribution. Alex is about 50 meters back in the field charging up a massive attack with his battle staff. He told me that he could splay out the attack angles and attack an even more targets at a greater range when the weapon is in his preferred form. We keep this up and drag the group back to Alex and by the time we get near him we have probably wiped out about half of them. Alex seems to be done with the empowerment as he starts to use it, but I cannot help but help notice something weird. It was almost too easy to group the wraiths up. The groups around us are not taking notice of our presence, and if they are noticing us then they do not care. It is unusual activity for wraiths. Typically they will tend to draw others nearby. I see it. In the midst of combat, I did not notice that the groups around us are all marked with bizarre glowing lettering.

"Wait, it is a trap!"

I can't say the words fast enough.

As Alex starts his strike, red pillars of light erupt from the nearby wraith groups and connect with a red orb in the sky that cause the area around us to have a red tint to it. I count at least 100 pillars. It must be some kind of trap. Immediately Devin, Alex, and Miraldes pass out onto the ground. Connor and Eric are brought to their knees and only managed to be keeping themselves from hitting the floor by leaning on their swords. Adam and I appear to be unaffected at surface level but it is starting to feel hotter and the air seems thinner making it harder to breath.

"Adam, we need to break the circle, those outer groups were marked with some kind of lettering." I can say that but it seems as if within the area of the trap I would estimate around 200 wraiths are scattered around. Fighting through them is going to be nearly impossible but I have to try. Before I can make a move I hear shouting from Eric and Connor.

"Eric, do it now!"

"Caladbolg, Spiral Sword!" He shouts as he presses the drill like sword into the earth.

The ground starts shaking as glowing fractures appear. The soil starts to give way beneath us as a massive explosion of light energy bursts out and blurs everything from vision. After the light fades, holes seem to have appeared under where Eric, Devin, Miraldes, and Alex were. Following magic trails from their former locations allows me to see that Eric recovered them and ran back to the ship. Connor starts to regain his footing.

"Eric did his part now it's our turn. Look up there." He points to the sky where a white light streaks across the sky for a moment and then vanishes.

Without warning a shadowy figure crashes into the ground, causing the wraiths to be destroyed.

"So this is where the real practice begins. Athenox, do you know what this is?" He readies his blade and points it at the figure.

"Something I have only had the pleasure of encountering on a few rare occasions. It is a corrupted spirit and by the looks of what it just did. I would say that it is a strong one."

"Yes, which is why basic team combat strategies hardly ever work against them. As mages we are eventually able to be strong enough to take them down by ourselves. I could have but most of my power was drained with that trap. I will need your guys' help. Adam do you think that you can?"

"Yeah I will."

"Athenox, You and I are going to tag team it. You can detect magic right?"

"Yes I can."

"I need you to keep track of what it is doing and try to analyze as much as you can on it. Just like when you fought Mrs. before. If using its weapon will gain an advantage against it then do it. Also do not worry about passing out. If you manage to help me destroy this thing then I will carry you back to the school myself."

"Ok I will go in first to get the initial strikes and attack pattern." I rush in with Caliburn.

The spirit seems to anticipate and can evade, maneuver around me, and then attempt a counter attack. I block with my blade. The first apparent thing becomes the weapon that the spirit is using. With its fighting style and the way I was blocked. Based off of what I know about weapons, I would say it is a pair of daggers. Any detailing on beyond that is too hard to make out as thick shadow is covering the spirit. I hope that if I strike the weapons enough then I will get a clearer picture of it. The spirit jumps back and produces a shadowy length that narrowly misses my right arm. I grab the shadow midair and pull on it. I know that because of how weak my body is, it is will be unlikely that I can overcome the spirits grip and disarm it or even pull it to me. However, as I am sent launching directly towards the spirit I feel what I grabbed. It is a metallic chain. I get close enough to the spirit to see where it connects to the daggers in the spirit's hands, before it evades and sends me flying into the ground with a cut on my hand.

"Connor, the spirit is using two dagger like weapons with a chain on it! Switch."

The spirit stops for a moment, before proceeding in combat with Connor. His sword shines as it clashes with the shadowy daggers, almost as in contrast. The pace of the strikes between the two is almost too intense to keep up with. Connor's sword is a relatively large blade roughly the same size as Caliburn and yet he seems to be striking almost as fast as the spirits daggers, which is something that I myself was having trouble with when I was going against the spirit. I do not know much about Connor's abilities, but his reflexes with his sword seem to be leaving no openings for the spirit. If this is him drained of magical energy, then I would not even want to duel him when he is at his best. However, he is also unable to land a hit on the spirit. The two are locked in a stalemate right now, but if Connor doesn't gain an edge soon then I imagine that he will tire out. I have to find out more information in order to defeat it. Which means I have to fight it more.

"Connor, switch." I say as I throw my blade and displace to it, and catch the spirit's strike.

"Ok, if you think that will help."

I caught the strike from the daggers and wasn't sent flying despite its apparent physical strength. That means that the daggers are not generating a great deal of force per hit, but it is also attacking very fast. The image of the daggers are very clear in my mind, and I could replicate it if I wanted to but it may not be the best option given my lack experience with a weapon of that configuration. It will probably break focus of the spirit, if nothing else. I summon its weapon in my left hand. The spirit stopped again. In its hesitation I manage to disarm the daggers from the hands of the spirit. As I proceed to strike with Caliburn the spirits left hand catches it while its right hand delivers a punch to the center of my gut. I am sent flying and land on my back. The spirit raises its hands to its face and takes off what appears to be an eye mask of some kind, revealing what appears to be bright yellow eyes. Immediately my body starts to feel an intense pressure like it is being crushed. Connor from where he is standing seems to be unable to make any movements. Adam from some distance back seems to be relatively unaffected other than what looks to be the shock of intense pressure. There is a massive amount of magical energy that got released into the air. I will use it by following the mana back to its source. If I can do that than maybe I will be able to figure out how to stop it. The spirit walks over and picks its daggers back up. I see the eyes. My mana from the daggers has gotten on the spirits hands which allows me to analyze the eyes structure. The spirit turns towards me and seems to have noticed what I was doing. While it is distracted, Connor tries to rush towards it, but is immediately encased in stone up to his waist with his sword pointed at it. The spirit turns back to me and I see the full detail of the eyes. They are actually gray with yellow pupils and are dense and solid in structure. The cells seem to be made up of material that closely resembles the schools reality marbles. It is a gamble but if I can counter them by emitting my mana at the same frequency then I should be able to nullify the effect. I just have to change my spells encoding. I do this passively when I copy someone's weapon, so I should be able to do it right now. As a saber mage, the best way I know to emit mana is through my sword. I dismiss the version of Caliburn in my hand and summon an empowered pair of blades and stab them into the ground. I am instantly frozen in place and covered in stone. More accurately, my body seems to be turning into stone. The field around me darkens and the only thing visible is a women standing a few meters away, who I presume to be the spirit. I must have opened up a reality marble based off of the composition of those cells. She turns and looks at me and appears to be mouthing a word out to me. I can't make out what she is saying.

"Em…iy...-a." I can only tell through the broken syllables that she is saying my last name.

How?

Does she know me?

I have never seen this spirit before in my life. I try to respond back but my mouth seems to be made of stone. I can only watch as twelve shadowy figures appear around her and channel a spell on her and then bind her in shadowy chains. In the distance I can hear Connor.

"Adam, do it now! I do not know how long we can keep this up!" The field around me shatters and I find myself back to normal almost. I look down at my hands and find that I am now holding Connor's sword and am in the position where he was standing earlier. I look over at where I was standing and find that my body is still right there trapped in the stone with the blades stuck in the ground.

"Athenox, Connor wants you to finish her off now! She looks weakened. Use your phantasm's full empowerment."

I don't get it but on impulse I raise the sword I am holding into the air. If I this is not my sword, than this will not work. Wait, I can feel it. This is still my sword, Caliburn. Adam used one of his spells, Mass Illusion. It is a similar effect to a reality marble. It distorts the appearances and the appeared location of the targets inside. I feel bad about how much damage I am about to cause to the spirit, but if I do not then she will kill Connor, and then possibly Adam and I. I fully empower the blade and raise it into the air. The dark energy it emits almost makes it look like it is nighttime outside.

"Caliburn!" I shout as loud as I can as I slam the sword down, causing a flurry of dark shadowy energy to emit a torrent that erupts in a line that probably reaches out to about 10 meters. When the blast is over. The spirit is gone and the only trace left is the visor she was using and her daggers. As the illusion field vanishes and Connor turns back to normal, I feel the level of exhaustion proportionate to the mana I just used. I black out and fall to the ground.

*While Athenox, Devin, Miraldes, and Alex are in the Infirmary after their mission. Eric, Connor, and Adam are in a dark room with Mrs., and they are all sitting around a table explaining what happened on their mission. Scene 4.*

"It still doesn't quite make sense. From the start it was kind of weird. We heard Athenox call out that it was a trap and we were immediately weakened by whatever the effects were and Devin, Miraldes, and Alex all passed out from it. The trap made a perimeter in the form of the surrounding groups of wraiths. Whatever the spell was, it had used them as a binding." Connor says.

"We saw the three of them and I used my remaining energy to empower Caladbolg to destroy the perimeter and get them out back to the ship. I never actually got to see the spirit though." Eric says to Mrs.

"It dropped out of the sky and moved and attacked very fast. Easily an Assassin class spirit, further confirmed by Athenox identifying the daggers in its hand and the fact that he could take a strike from it full force without getting sent flying. We switched back and forth so that Athenox could identify as much information about the spirits abilities. Eventually the fight went into a standstill and the spirit used some strange optic magic which froze me in place. Adam was far away enough that the magic did not seem to affect him. Athenox was about as close as I was and also managed to be unscathed by it."

"It is probably because of his magic resistance." Mrs. exclaims to the group at the table.

"If I had to guess, then you are probably right about that Mrs. That may also explain how the trap had a minimal effect on him compared to the others." Adam interjects.

"That is true but the rest of the fight gets weird, and I can barely comprehend what had happened. Adam while you were channeling your illusion spell, did you see what had happened?"

"Yes I did but I am not quite sure how to explain it. You charged at the spirit when it was looking at Athenox, but you immediately got halfway covered in stone. If I had to guess Athenox was using his detection to try and figure out how to break the magic. He summoned two empowered blades and stabbed them into the ground. They were not glowing in the same manner as Caliburn usually does when he empowers it, and instead they were glowing a bright yellow color similar to the spirit's eyes. He turned completely into stone when did this. At that point you told me to cast the spell. Which seems to have distorted both Athenox's and Connor's location and appearances as is the usual effect of the spell. When Athenox got to Connor's location, I had told him to finish the spirit off. He of course did with his full empowerment. The spirit vanished and Athenox had probably drained so much of his mana that he blacked out."

"I myself don't understand the extent of what happened, but I am sure that Athenox may be able to add a piece to this puzzle when he wakes up. He may be getting stronger and more experienced with his abilities as he fights more. Definitely more versatile if he figuring out how to combine his void magic with counter magic which is what seems to have been the case."

"I didn't think that it was possible. Counter magic requires the ability to manipulate and match one's spell encoding and mana flow with another caster. It is impossible to do effectively against higher power spells unless they were of your own affinity. That spirit looked like it was a shadow affinity, not void. There has been no record of a void mage with the capabilities to steal a spell and use it to counter the original cast."

"That may be true Connor but keep in mind something. No void mage is alike. The only similarity that they share is the ability for their mana to siphon and contain other magic within itself as that is the very property of the mana in the same way that air lightens, fire burns, poison erodes, metal increases in density, shadow distorts, and holy light purifies. The mana within a user acts just as its corresponding element acts in nature, but void cannot exist in nature because its form is unstable, so it instead stabilizes itself through the absorption of other elements."

"You have told us that before and I get the concept behind it. It is just that I do not understand how Athenox can have this level of development with it in just a matter of a few days."

"Well if combat is the primary source for his abilities to develop, then the fact that he has fought every single one of those days is a reason for it. I would also think it is because within those fights he probably uses more mana than a normal person would which in turn strengthen his magic circuits. He also seems to very easily drain himself of mana in a fight, which is why consistently passes out or temporarily goes numb when he uses certain abilities such as his weapon copying. Even with this rapid development his magic circuits are still very volatile to say the least. Compared to a normal mages training, I would think that Athenox has recovered about five years of magic training in these past few days, at least in terms of power but he is far ahead in terms his capability. So we do not know what other surprises that his powers hold as he continues to get stronger. I am sure that we will find out in due time. For now we are just going to let Athenox recover before we try to explore any deeper into his power because damaging him would not be ideal considering his potential value to the team." Mrs. clarifies.

*End of Episode 6.*


	7. Chapter 7

Fate/Academy: Episode 7

*It is a few days after their first training session against the corrupted spirit. They are in history class with a teacher named Mrs. Muluroma. Scene 1.*

"Okay class, today we are going to begin our first lecture discussion. I hope everyone was able to get the required supplies for their classes in a timely manner. I think that it is important in understanding history as a subject for us to view events chronologically. So that we have a good starting foundation as we progress. Many historians believe that the start of what we know as our society began in the events immediately following the cursing. Now I am not personally known for teaching glorified bedtime stories but it holds truth in its essence. The basics of the events are pretty cut and dry. You have heard these before growing up in your respective faction's schools. Some unknown event caused the whole population of the world to fall to corruption and society as we would have been familiar to it had been wiped out in its entirety. If artifacts found pre cursing era can indicate anything it is that they lived their lives just as normally as we do and never saw an event like that coming. Then after what seemed to be most of the planets population getting wiped out and the rest were infected, but were saved by the miraculous seven mages who had seemed to have been saved from the corruption, repelled the corruption, or were immune from ever getting corrupted in the first place among other ideas depending on which factions ideology you follow. Everything after that is of course fragmented nonsense created by the factions directly or indirectly, but among that nonsense we do know that the mages created the seven major factions by dividing the survivors into groups sorted by what abilities they had and as we stand here today we know that the seven major factions are based on what we have discovered to be called magic affinities. With that said the seven major affinities are… yes Micheal?"

"Light, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Nature, and Darkness."

"Good and as we all know in today's time the faction names for the families of those affinities are… Miraldes?"

"In the same order as he just said. The Holy Council, Burning Ember, Glacial Coast, Grand E.A.S.T. South, Grand E.A.S.T. North, Floral Valley, and Undercity. With some question about Enreagent."

"Yes, I myself often question the whole Enreagent faction dispute. While they are considered as a distinct type of magic and users who master it can become very powerful, most of the other factions fail to recognize them as such because they see enhancement as nothing more than a weak baseline magic. It would almost be better to call them a sub faction but they have large numbers of users and they don't fall under any one faction more than the others so they are somewhere in between. This doesn't really put them in a physical location compared to the others but as we know they had been granted land under the Burning Ember in which they set up the Enreagent schools. So while not directly under them as a sub faction and while also not an eighth faction due to historical consequence, I think that it would be safe to say that in return for giving them some place of existence, Enreagent would most likely come to the aid of their host territory without question. Now if you would please excuse that very valid tangent. Continuing with the story. While we do not know the specifics of what happened due to seven different retellings of the events. And our questionable eighth not really caring to dispute against any of the other factions due to a lack of evidence and interest because it bears little direct effect on their existence. The Holy Council's retelling is based on evidence, probably closest to what may have actually happened. They believe that the seven mages were chosen and had their minds mentally resurrected by a divine force and they were able to in turn return everyone's mind from the corrupt darkness that had overtaken them. The only downfall to this story is that it would have required the mages to be recovered from the effects of the corruption at what is considered an almost irrecoverable stage and would have required them to travel at speeds that exceed limit of modern magecraft in order save the few who may have been just below the point of saving. Which is not technically impossible because we do not know the full extent of ancient magecraft. However the Grand E.A.S.T. faction may have more insight in their retelling. They believe almost exactly the same as the Holy Council, except they believe that the seven founding mages were not living human mages but instead what their early text refers to as a heroic spirit, an uncorrupt spirit whose capabilities far exceed that of a normal human. If that was the case, then this theory may have been what actually happened. The rest of the factions do not follow theories as closely as these. The rest tend to have crazy notions that the population reformed from their respective individual elements that were left on Earth, well except for Undercity. They think that those who were not killed by the cursing may have just built up a natural immunity from overexposure and the seven mages were the most immune and woke up first and took the initiative to resurrect the rest of the population. Which causes further concerns later on for the other factions. That theory would have to imply that it was pure chance that among all of the known affinities of magic that the current seven in power only got to be there because of a fluke chance that those seven would wake up. It causes fear and instability in the system of power that runs today. This conflict of ideals has served as the baseline for many later recorded conflict which we will arrive at later in the course. But most people no longer care about the story of the founding seven mages because they think that it no longer effects their lives like it effected all of those people in the past. However those simple minded people would be unaware to the fact that the actions of those seven whoever they may have been, are still influencing the decisions of today. Their action to fight heroically against the corrupted creatures to save our world is the reason that we formed all of the magic training academies, including this one. To serve as a reminder of why we train and prepare our magic to once again stand fast against the corrupted evil in case it no longer decides to remain dormant. Now continuing on from that…" She is right about most of what she has said so far.

History is important and we have to learn from it so as not to repeat it. However something about what she said is bugging me. The Undercity argument is not exactly as clear cut as she presented it to the class and has a lot more intricacies than that. While the theory that a natural immunity was built up, there is no reason to say that their immunities could not have been initiated or accelerated by some divine source. Also the affinities of the seven mages were most likely not random. It is well known that the strongest seven elements that exist in nature are the ones of the seven mages were chosen. If anything, they could say that the seven specific mages chosen to be resurrected were random based off of our current limited knowledge of events. On the other hand this is a first year history class in high school, so I can't blame her too harshly.

*Athenox is at lunch. He has found out that the organizations typically sit together so he is sitting at a table with most of his freshman teammates. Closest in proximity are of course Devin, Miraldes, Alex, and Adam. Luke, Jane, Sarah, Mary, Micheal, and Macy are within still within conversation distance. Scene 2.*

"If that is the quality of lectures we have to put up with for the rest of the year, then I do not know how I am going to be able to handle it." Sarah says.

"I don't think it was that bad. She did cleverly present and explain a lot of theories about the founding of the territories." Jane says.

"Sorry Jane, but I kind of have to agree with Sarah on this one. She is a little bit of a conspiracy theorist if you ask me. She has the general idea about them but not the specifics like the detailed reasoning of why the Holy Council faction thinks that the events after the cursing happened like they did." Luke says.

Wow.

That was a shocker.

I was not expecting him to feel that way about it. It is almost how I feel about the Undercity faction theories.

"With that said though, it is still a better argument than the pure speculation that seven random mages got up on their own and were suddenly immune to the effects of the corruption."

And just like that he ruined it. Anything nice I could have said is gone just like a fleeting memory.

"Since when did you become a certified expert historian, Luke?"

"Since I was a privileged member of a faction with more accurate ideals." Luke responds.

"You want to go there?"

We both stand up from the table and draw our weapons on each other.

"Good thing you used you cloaking enchant. I wouldn't want to have to see that hideous blade."

"Both of you need to calm down. This is a cafeteria, not an arena. You should avoid escalating to a fight so quickly since it could get out of hand and I do not want to have to invest in more extensive laundering than I already have to from class." Devin says.

"You know Devin makes a great point. Don't you agree Mary?" Miraldes says.

"I agree that drawing your blade here would cause an unnecessary amount of destruction and explosions. Besides, I would not want to have to mess up my hair today." She says as she looks up from her plate. Mary replies.

Within a few seconds before we can decide to stand down, the two girls kick us in the ankles so hard that we are immediately returned to our seats.

"Seriously why do you two have to be such hotheads towards each other? You two have fought before and the result was clear. Athenox won. Now leave it alone." Jane says.

"Actually it is not that simple."

"Yeah, due to the events of both parties. Specifically Athenox being a loser and losing his powers within a few days after the fight. We have both agreed to the fact that the fight was a fluke and when he recovers his skills back to what they were, then I will be happy to crush him. I would do it now but I do not take pride in defeating amateurs who cannot control their powers. " Luke explains.

"He is mostly right, even though he is the loser who forgets that he ran out of mana and I had to go easy on him. Which is his part of the fluke in question. And to further clarify, I am not as much of an amateur as you would like to make me out to be. I didn't forget how to cast spells, and I just have to recondition those spells to work with a new mana type."

"This is passive aggressive nonsense and it is getting really old. If we have to go through this process of you guys trying to pick a fight with each other every day, then I think you should just get it over with an become friends, or at least teammates who can acknowledge each other's presence with respect." Macy quietly interjects.

"Macy is right. There has got to be some way for you two idiots to get along." Sarah says as she tries to think up a solution.

"Hey if combat will be the thing that solves it. Isn't there a Saber Mage competition coming up?" Devin asks.

"Yes. It is called Blademaster. It is a basic one versus one competition designed to test sword technique over magecraft and as a result, they do not allow the use of advanced magic. As a part of the arena team for the upcoming Grail War competition next semester, I am required to compete in it." Luke explains.

"Well what if Athenox competes in it also? Then you would be able to fight each other and decide who is better." Miraldes states.

"It is doubtful that the randomization system used to set up the matches would be likely to pair us up right off the bat and the idea of either of us making it to the finals is laughable considering that there are some top tier upperclassmen competing but the limit on allowed magecraft may help Athenox since he is not able to use any in the first place."

"Likewise, Luke may be saved considering he wouldn't have enough mana to operate that magecraft in the first place." Without hesitation Luke and I are kicked once again.

"You know if you start doing real physical damage, then they may not be able to compete in the competition in the first place and we will have to deal with this for the rest of the school year, at least." Devin says.

"Meh, they are fine." Sarah builds up holy magic in her hand and snaps her fingers as the nearly broken sensation in my ankle is gone.

"My real question is if Athenox will have time to compete. Since he is on the resource gathering and construction team I could imagine that he would be quite busy if he were to try to do both." Alex says.

"The matches do not conflict with team practice because the tournament takes place on a Saturday night in a few weeks." Luke states.

"Well then Luke it is official. Whoever makes it the furthest in the Blademaster tournament is better than the other, and if by some miracle we both make it to finals then the last match will be the determining factor. Deal?"

"Deal." Luke and I shake hands.

"Athenox, I would check with Mrs. to see if we have any overnight gathering trips then. Connor told me that as we get closer, we usually get a few of them and eventually the whole team has to be excused from class to pull all-nighters." Adam says.

Yeah but from what I know about Mrs. I think she has already accounted for this. She always has a knack for being at least one step ahead.

"As long as our all-nighters do not involve crazy Assassin spirits turning us to stone and draining us of magical energy, then I am fine." Devin says.

"You know Eric said that the spirit only got the upper hand because of its bizarre ability and the fact that it had caught us in a trap and other than that it looked to be a fairly weak spirit in terms of physical capability. So I would probably expect more of those."

"Speaking of that, Athenox what did you have to talk to Connor and Eric about?"

"It was about the items that the spirit dropped. While the essence was useless because it was before the start of the competition season, I figured I could at least see what was up with the visor and the dagger." I pull the daggers and visor out of my backpack.

"Wow I never saw them before but the visor is really colorful. I bet black and pink would look great on you." Devin says sarcastically.

"I haven't done anything to them yet. It is not my fault the spirit was a girl."

"Wait, did you just say that you could tell what the spirit looked like?" Jane asks curiously.

"It was through a complicated process. When the spirit took off the visor, its eyes started glowing yellow and emitting a massive amount of magic. I traced out the properties of it and matched it with my blades. As a result, I prevented everyone else from turning into stone but I became encased in it and a reality marble opened around me." I continue to explain the events to them.

"So the visor itself is made out of the same materials as the reality marbles at the school and you used it? That means that you can use a reality marble which is very high level magecraft. I am almost disappointed that the Blademaster tournament doesn't allow high level magecraft because I would have loved to see that." Jane's eyes seem to brighten and sparkle out of interest and I think she is starting to drool out of the corner of her mouth.

"Hey, earth to sister!" Sarah waves her hand in front of her sister's face.

"Get a hold of yourself. Reality marbles are not viable magecraft and even enhancement has more use than that. Considering everything inside of a reality marble is just a fake illusion generated out of mana." Luke says trying to downplay my achievement.

"Do you have any ideas on how the visor works?"

"I think she was using to conceal whatever optical magic that caused us to almost turn to stone."

"Why, couldn't she have just ended the spell herself?"

"I am not quite sure. Certainly the effect was wasting an excess of mana so it would have probably drained her eventually but if she knew that then you are right why did she need this visor?"

"Wait, don't you use something like optic magic when you scan and copy people's weapons and magic?"

"I suppose that is a correct way of looking at it."

"Can you turn it off?"

"No. I can always just kind of feel it. Well see it is the more accurate term. I can envision the structure of a weapon or spell once my mana can come into contact with it. It is almost as if the mana outlines the magic structure. From there I can replicate it."

"Doesn't that usually cause you to pass out afterwards?"

"I do not know why but typically that is the case. And if it isn't blacking out then it is some form of paralysis."

"So what if that visor could help you cancel your magic so you didn't pass out? I think that would help you in the back to back match style that a tournament would use."

"Hmm. I will look into that but what about the daggers? I myself do not use blades that short but the chains on the weapons maybe useful."

"Um, Athenox?" Macy speaks nervously from her seat.

"What is it, Macy?"

"You could use the armory forges downstairs. I hear their equipment is pretty good. I have yet to try them out but Clara and Corey tell me good things. I even asked if they could show me a few extra pointers on repairing and modifying my phantasm weapon after school today. So I do not think that they mind it too much if you came along since you are trying to figure out things yourself. I could even show you what I know to see if that would help."

"You know that sounds like a great idea, Macy. We could all go and see more of what Athenox's weird abilities can do." Jane says as her eyes once again lose focus of reality and drool proceeds out of her mouth. She is smacked on the back of the head by Sarah.

"Oh Jane, you seem to have forgotten that Aubrey wants us to start preparing for the Caster mage competition, Castmaster, that is going to be happening in four months. She is very prudent and demanding. She does not want us to be wasting our time by gawking at another mage's talent when we have our own magecraft to attend to. To quote her own words, "If you start slacking off now, then I will make you come in over winter break for mana drill training Besides who wants to watch him sit around all day and blow himself up trying to break a few blades." Sarah says.

She is very full of herself and I do not find it to be funny at all.

"Anyway Macy, it does sound like fun and I myself happen to be quite knowledgeable at forging. I think between the three of us we may be able to work something out." Devin proclaims.

"Really Devin, since when? In the brief period I have known you, I have never once seen you do anything that suggests you know how to properly maintain your weapons in an effective manner." Miraldes says.

"Yeah you seem to try to break your blades every time you fight something. It is almost like your trying to destroy your weapons and not your target." Alex says.

"I think that these swords just can't match my physical strength." Devin says as he flexes his arms in poor attempt to show off.

"As incorrect and off topic as that is Devin, I would be glad to accept your offer. I would like to learn more about these items and see if they can be useful in some way."

"So, who is ready for our next class? You all know what Mr. Lanslac is teaching us in survival training today?" Micheal asks.

"Yeah. He said it was going to be a…" Sarah says.

"You don't have to say it because we all already know." Luke interrupts her.

"What is the matter, Luke? You were already starting to throw a fit about it when he announced it in class yesterday. Now you don't even want us to say the word."

"I think Luke just has a problem with…" Devin says.

"No I do not and like I said before there really is no need to say the word because we still already know what it is." Luke interrupts again.

"That seems like an ineffective tactic to not try and think of the word in which you are trying to not think about, because in making sure no one else says it, you then have to pay attention and look for it in other people's sentences. Plus it is a little rude since you have already tried to interrupt me three times since I have started talking just because you were afraid that I was going to say the word…"

*Abrupt scene change to Mr. Lanslac's survival class. Our group and a few others are there. Scene 3.*

"Cooking challenge! As I said yesterday, the goal of this lesson is to give you more methods of surviving and what is more important to surviving than being able to use materials that you find around you in the wilderness of the corrupted lands in order to feed yourself. As you all know, being well fed is one of the major ways to replenish mana because you are absorbing the energy of the material that you are eating." Mr. says to the class.

"Why do we have to cook? I fail to see how it will apply to me in the future. I am a fighter, and I should be working on my combat skills. Besides if I need to eat in the future then I can either go to a restaurant or have my future wife cook something for me."

I thought I had heard every possible ignorant statement out of Luke's mouth, until now. This topped all of them. So he is one of those guys? I guess I will have to save himself from his own disrespect and if knocking it into him will not work, then I will have to take the more subtle approach of forcing respect into him through mental manipulation.

"Hold on, Luke. What was that?"

I stand up and walk to Luke's seat and kneel next to him.

"What do you mean? You going to pick a fight about this?"

He summons his blade in the middle of classroom.

"No, no, not at all. I mean that is a little low, even for you. You want to be a strong independent fighter, am I right?"

"Yes I suppose." Luke responds.

"And you want to work hard to prove yourself so that hypothetical wife of yours could stay at home out of harm's way right?"

"Definitely." Luke responds again.

"Then how are you going to be an independent fighter keeping your wife out of harm's way if you have to bring her into combat to cook for you. It seems a little silly doesn't it?"

"You are right. It is. Fine, then I will accept this lesson as an honor." I walk back to my seat.

"Worry not, Mr. Matou because there is more to this challenge than just cooking. If there was not then this may as well be a middle school class for girls. Let me explain the rules further because there is a very specific reason that we are having class at a different time than normal. If you look around, then it appears that there are no ingredients in this room. So in order to get those ingredients, you then must hunt them down yourself." Mr. explains.

"Where? In the school?" Micheal asks.

"No, we will not be having you run through the entire school grounds on a scavenger hunt. Not yet anyway…" Mr. continues.

"Well then where do we need to go?" Luke asks. Mr. as he looks down at his watch and utters some incoherent phrases that sound like they are of an indiscernible ancient language. A portal opens up in the front of his classroom.

"I will divide you all into groups of five. Then you will each decide to send in two group members. While inside you must hunt and gather what ingredients you are going to be using. Once you return you will have 45 minutes to prepare and cook a dish. After that, I will evaluate and judge each dish. All of you will get completion points for the activity but the best dish will get bonus points as extra credit. Now then, to start assigning groups."

He continues to list off our groups and to no surprise I am grouped with Devin, Miraldes, Adam, and Alex. In fact, our three Team groups have been formed, in addition to the other three groups of freshman.

"So who are our two fastest and mobile fighters?" Devin asks.

"Well you are a rider, so can't you use your bull to carry more?" Adam asks Devin.

"And Miraldes is a very fast Assassin, so she would be an obvious choice." Alex says.

"Wait. If we want to get that bonus, then shouldn't we go for getting higher quality items from inside? It is technically a reality marble and therefore everything inside will be made up of mana and no offense, but Athenox is probably the best out of all of us in detecting magic items." Miraldes argues.

"I suppose that makes sense but as we all recall. Athenox lacks anything that resembles movement speed. He can only operate within a certain combat radius." Alex iterates as I feel the pain of his words impale me like a knife in the back.

"I would appreciate it if we could stop acting like I can't run at all. And besides, if Devin is in there then he should be able to carry me on the bull in between targets. We also do not know what is on the other side of that portal, so it is a possibility that we are going into an unknown area with unknown obstacles and items on the other side. My void abilities and magic detection should be able to adapt and crack through most of what could be on the other side."

"Okay then, let's do it." We unanimously decide to send in me and Devin to gather ingredients.

"Miraldes, can you start thinking up what we could make with a different combination of ingredients? I would pick something that could work well with a wide range of ingredients."

"Sure thing."

All of the students who are going in are lined up in front of the portal. It seems as if Luke and Jane are going in from group one. As well as Sarah and Micheal from group two. It doesn't make sense. They are both sending in a Caster and a Saber. A Caster mage will tend to have a lot of problems in terms of mobility and will typically have to burn a lot of mana when they try to keep up. They have to be betting on a smaller area of operation with a limited number of enemies or creatures to gather from. Is there something they know that I do not?

"Alright students. You should do your best to avoid dawdling. Speed and reaction time are critical to this challenge. You will have 10 minutes while inside to find your ingredients and head to the exit point. So if you run into other groups, please note that it is not advantageous for either of you to waste time engaging each other in combat. My counter begins in 3...2...1...go!"

We rush inside the portal. When we cross through, we are amazed to find that it is a dark moonlit forest. Devin and I do not spend much time as we hop on his bull and we rush forward through the forest.

"So Athenox, what do we need to look for?" Devin asks me as the new reality of our situation sets in.

"Oh no. That's why they chose to send in Casters."

"What are you talking about?"

"Earlier I had noticed the other group's choices for who to send in through the portal to get ingredients. Given how little time we had to discuss what we were going to make beforehand or what ingredients we were going to be able to get, it would have been wise to send in the person who would be overseeing the group based off having the most cooking knowledge. I can only assume that is why they would risk sending in Casters into a vast area of operation with little preparation. Since Casters, and more specifically Jane and Sarah, as they have had schooling through the Holy Council on how to follow and manage recipes."

"So what you are telling me is that since we assumed what was better towards fighting things and getting better ingredients that we as a result, totally neglected what was going to get us ingredients that could even make a dish in the first place?"

"Yes but we do still have a few advantages over the others. Our melee based offensive capabilities will allow us to quickly dispatch creatures, your riding skill will allow us to move faster and reach a farther range, and that range will allow us to benefit from detection."

"How so?"

"Well because I immediately detected an uneven distribution of magic energy in the forest. It is distributed in a manner that increases the further out from the center point that we entered in. So stronger things with higher quality essences should be."

"You could tell that just from being in here for less than a minute? You haven't even contacted anything with your mana yet."

"I know. I could just kind of tell by looking at the forest. It is like I observed the spirits giving off mana at different amounts and rates. I could only notice the pattern by gauging it relatively to different levels of power that I have encountered before."

"You are the one with the irregular ability to detect things with an unnatural mana type flowing through your body, so I will take your word for it. So when we get to these higher quality creatures, what is our plan?"

"Since we do not know specifically what we are going to have to get, then we will just have to get as much as we can. I could generalize what we need but I am mainly just going to go for whatever I notice to have the highest or densest magical presence. Here! We are closing in on one of the largest power readings in this area."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No, I want you to speed up so I will have an increased attacking force."

"Increase attacking force? What do you mean…?"

I takeoff from the side of the bull and empower my sword as I approach a large pack of spirit beasts and crash into them with the full force of my weapon. A dark flash sweeps across the forest.

*Devin and Athenox are riding back on the bull and are headed towards the central portal they entered from. Athenox is hanging on the side of the bull and packed spirit food items are tied to the back of the bull. Scene 4.*

"I can't believe how much we got. I seriously doubt that we will have to use all of this."

"True, but it is better than not having enough or not having the right thing. We have to make the best of the fact that we did not strategize well enough."

"Did you hear that?" A high pitched shout is coming from the distance.

"Yeah someone is probably in trouble."

"If I had to guess, then they probably pulled too many creatures at once. Or worse. Let's go."

Devin turns the bull off course in the direction of the shout. When we arrive, we Luke and Jane being encircled by a group of lions. Jane is passed out on the ground and Luke is frozen in place holding a large one in the center back with his shield.

"Luke, look out." He looks and jumps back as we ram the bull straight into the lion. We circle around and I hop off of the bull.

"Luke what happened?"

"We were just trying to take down the big one for our last ingredient and go, but the lion knocked me around quite a bit. Jane fell out from mana drain trying to heal me. I tried to grab her and run but we got surrounded. I have been trying to fight them off for a few minutes but they keep coming. I think it is because the big lion keeps calling them." His voice. There is so much panic in it. Almost like he sounds afraid, but why? He should have had enough power to take down that Lion easily. The weapons are shaking in his hands. What has him like this? Nothing in this area of the forest should be a big enough threat that it would physically scare someone.

"Well then we will have to dispatch of this Lion to get out of here. Devin, can you load Jane up on the side and run to the exit? We will be behind in a few minutes. Luke you think we can distract this mob long enough for Devin to ride ahead?"

"Of course we can!" Luke exclaims loudly as the panic that was in his voice seems to go away.

Devin clears a path through the lions as we face the big lion. It seems to ignore the bull as it runs away, almost as if it is more focused on us or is simply allowing the bull to escape.

"Luke, are you ready?"

"Yes I am…" His voice trails off as he starts to quiver in panic again.

I thought he was okay. The Luke that I know would have been full of snarky elitist comebacks and would have started swinging already. So why not now? The personality shift is so off putting that I almost do not notice that three lions are charging at me. I swing at them and their spiritual bodies hit the floor, and spirit essence splashes everywhere. The sight seems to cause Luke's eyes to widen. So that is what it is. I didn't recognized it before but it should have been very obvious since I have seen this level of fear before in new recruits to the Undercity army. He doesn't want to kill things. Anything, person or spirit beast. The thought frightens him. He was okay in combat at the school because he knew no one was going to be fatally injured, and at most would have just been knocked unconscious. Here however, we are killing the spirit creatures. Even though they are made of mana the thought of killing them has probably been something that he has been dreading since Mr. announced the assignment yesterday, maybe even longer in some form. That is why he has been freaking out about it, and covering it up with a throw away complaint about what his societal role should be. I guess it will be another thing that I will help him on, and I will start by taking down this creature. I start fiercely striking at Luke's shield. The action seems to snap him out of his panic for a few moments.

"What are you doing? We are supposed to be taking down the lion, and not me. Now is not the time for this loser. I told you that we would fight later." He shouts as he is getting angrier.

"And we will, but right now I am getting us out of here."

As the structure of the shield becomes clear, from being coated in my mana. I am nearly dropped by the dazzling brightness of summoning it. It is almost like looking directly into the core of the sun. The lions seem to also be disoriented by the sight of the shield as it forms on my arm, especially the large one in the center. It took a lot of mana to summon and I doubt that I will be able to empower it much, but it should help me keep all of the lions off of Luke so I can attack them. I start to clear through them. Slamming them into groups with the shield and slashing them down with the sword. I am making headway when I turn and see a few of them start to focus on Luke. I take my blade and clang it against the bright mirrored surface of the shield causing a bright spark and a wave of sound reflects outward. This causes their attention to be turned to me as start to cleave through the groups of lions surrounding the large lion. I am unlikely to have enough mana to draw the battle out any further. The shield in my hand is nearly battered and beaten beyond the point of stability and any attempt to keep using may cause it to explode and shatter into my hand. I start to empower the shield as I throw it into the cluster of lions. The shield explodes and sends shrapnel around, causing the lions to dissipate into spirit essence. The big lion remains in the center. Its eyes look shocked as I charge at it and attempt a strike with Caliburn. The creature evades and rapidly strikes back before I can manage to move. My only option is to brace the strike with Caliburn. It catches and I manage to hold it back for a few seconds before it slams me down. It looks at me and approaches before readies its paw for a final swipe at me. I slide underneath the lion before I get hit by it, and I unleash a flurry of swings at its underside along the way which causes it to explode in a flash of light. I get up and catch my breath.

"Luke, come on. Let's go."

"What was that?"

"Necessary, now like I said before, we have to go. Mr. had said that we only had 15 minutes to get what we needed and go. We only have 4 minutes left. We have to run if we want to make it on time, because of how far out we are." We cross through the portal and make it back to the classroom.

"Are you guys okay?" Devin asks as class mates start to gather around us to make sure that we are okay.

"It clearly wasn't anything that they couldn't handle. Now please go back to your workstations and begin cooking. You only have 45 minutes." Mr. says loudly to the class. I return to my group to find that they seem to have gotten out all of the ingredients to start preparing them.

"Okay Miraldes, do we have everything that we need?"

"Actually we have much more than we need but it seems as if you did that on purpose to account for not having the recipe with you when you were in the portal. Still what you got was pretty on the mark, almost matching the fundamental parts of a few different dishes."

"So now we need to start dividing the tasks up so that we can…" Before my sentence is finished, Miraldes interrupts.

"Oh Athenox it is no problem. You already did more than your part. You look like you are pretty exhausted from saving Luke and Jane. Not to mention the fact that Adam, Alex, Devin, and I can handle this just fine."

"Shifting Perception: Vertigo!" Adam shouts out as a spell is cast on me.

My body gives out as Devin kicks a chair under me and I crash land into it. Metal cuffs are chained around my wrists.

*End of Episode 7.*


	8. Chapter 8

Fate/Academy: Episode 8

*Athenox is in Mr. Lanslac's room. He has just been hit with a very strong illusion spell that sends him into the floor. Scene 1.*

"Did you just?"

"It is nothing personal but we have to make sure that you don't mess anything up. The usage of your magic tends to get things and people blown up or critically wounded. We can't take any chances. I am sure you agree that we want to get the best grade that we can." Miraldes explains.

She can say all of that but it doesn't take the four pronged knife wound out of my back. If this is what I have to look forward to for teammates, then I guess that this is going to be a long and interesting school year.

"Hey, Mr. Lanslac!" I try to mouth the words as the room around me keeps shifting directions.

"Yes Athenox, what is it?" From what I can tell, his facial reaction looks a little shocked to say the least.

It is a little out of place to be disoriented and cuffed to a chair within a school.

"Are they allowed to do this to me?" I ask as his face fully examines what the situation is.

The disorientation of my surroundings seems to add an unnecessary panicked and slurred volume to my voice. As a result the whole room looks up from what they are doing and stares at me being cuffed in the chair. It is an even worse sight when the room and my head are spinning.

"I haven't seen group cooperation methods like this since my earlier days of teaching. To answer your question though. I would say that while very unusual, it is not anything too cruel or extreme. In fact, you should be proud of your group if they are willing to do your share of the work on this part of the challenge." Mr. Lanslac replies to my question.

It is very easy for him to say that because he is not the one tied to a chair with a constantly shifting sense of direction. To make things worse. I can't even try to dispel the effect because every time that I can get close to tracing it back through Adam, then the room rapidly shifts again and I am even more disoriented than before. All I can do is wait for them to be done. They each seem to be using their magical talent effectively in this challenge. Adam is making some kind of substance with various herbs and fruits that we got, while Devin and Alex are cutting apart different beasts. Wolf, Lion, Dragon, Snake, Ram, and even a Phoenix. Impressively enough the combination of fire and air magic seems to be allowing the meats to be precooked as they run them through with their blades. Miraldes is milling out different herbs and mashing them into a paste that she is then having Devin fry as she flattens them out. I look over at the next closest workstations and I can see Jane, Luke, and the rest of their group seem to be cooking in a near perfect harmony, Sarah, Mary, Micheal, and Gabriel also seem to have some rhythm in their work. I am starting to notice something else as well. The groups are hardly communicating with each other at all, and yet they are still getting their tasks accomplished. It seems off to me, because we have hardly been in our groups for very long. Anytime I operated in a group when I was younger, it would take us at least a month before we would start being effective as a group. I always preferred to work alone because I could manage better. Even when I was leading full scale operations for Hades in Undercity, I seemed to just send people off so that I could do my own thing. I never understood why but I did. The groups that are in front of me however, are capable of synchronizing in ways that are beyond me. When time is called, all of the groups have their dishes ready to present. Mr. Lanslac walks the first group.

"Group one what do you have?" Mr. asks the group.

"Well we have what has always been a favorite of mine growing up because of how simple it is. It is a Lion's Steak and Potatoes." Jane says.

She seems to have recovered from the attack in the portal just fine and I didn't notice either of them having lion meat on them, not that I was paying too much attention to them. I look over at our workstation and count of how much meat we have before I realize that Jane must have stolen it off of the bull when Devin was rushing her out of the portal.

Oh man how many times am I going to get betrayed in one day?

"If I may?" Mr. Lanslac asks as he lowers his goggles and places his hands in the air over the dish.

I can tell from here that he is using some form of detection on it, even as my head is still spinning out of control.

"It is really good but it is a little too simple. You know I said that this was a challenge right? I will give it a three out of five stars." Out of their whole group, Jane's face seems to be the angriest.

Mr. Lanslac walks on to the second group.

"Group two, what do you have?"

"We made a Roasted Wolf Stew." He scans the dish.

"It was cooked perfectly but its taste very bland. In theory this would be a tried and true survival dish but it almost makes me want to not survive any longer. Three out of five stars." He walks on and just like Jane, it seems that Sarah and Mary are also less than pleased.

It is really hard to figure out a clear measuring scale for what Mr. Lanslac thinks is a good dish and what he doesn't, since he has given them both a three out five stars for similar reasons. It seems more opinionated than anything else because what one person finds good is unlikely to apply to everyone. He walks over to our workstation.

"Well it looks good, what is it?" He asks after turning slightly to acknowledge me in the chair.

"Chimera Enchiladas. An exotic take on an old family recipe, at least we think it is a family recipe. We can't really seem to trace it back to a particular member though." Miraldes presents the dish to him.

The reaction on his face as he scans the dish is a very radical shift from his normally professional and slightly sarcastic behavior. It is exaggerated quite a bit but I can't tell if it is negative or positive.

"Oh what did you put in this? Did you use real Chimera?" He asks while making noises that do not really clarify whether he likes it or not.

"Um, we mainly used a lot of spices that we gathered like Cumin, Coriander, Chilies, Oregano, and Garlic. Also no, we did not use real Chimera but we did use a combination of other creatures to substitute. Besides, I think it tastes better than real Chimera." She says trying to get him to like it.

His facial expression gives nothing away about his thoughts on the dish. Weird because I do not remember even grabbing anything resembling those spices. Devin must have grabbed them when I wasn't paying attention, which would mean that they had everything planned out since yesterday. My irritation is interrupted by Mr. as he bursts out with excitement.

"You are absolutely correct because it gives a fullness to the flavor that real Chimera can't offer. The spices are very well chosen. They really kick the dish into gear. I think I am going to give your group…" He pauses for a moment contemplating our score.

"Five stars." Our group seems pretty excited.

He looks at Miraldes.

"You seems to be very skilled at cooking. Maybe I should hire you as my personal servant so you can serve to cook for me every day. It would be much better than what my wife usually makes…" As he says that last word, immediately a bird shaped projectile made of void energy appears in the room and hits Mr.'s face and explodes on contact which slams him into the wall of the classroom. The magic energy coming of off the projectile was massive.

"Athenox, was that you that cast that? I must say that you are expanding your capabilities, and we do not even teach the familiar spell until sophomore or junior year depending on the class."

I found a message when I detected the void energy. It was a lot easier to detect than the spell that still has me spinning in my chair. It is from Mrs. and it was very obviously addressed to Mr., and the message simply insists that he stop what he is about to and refrain from saying another word or she will be forced to notify the governing board and he will be sleeping in the doghouse for a month. Her tone is very passive aggressive. I have that feeling that I should not have read that and upon reading I regret detecting the magic projectile more than any other magic thing that I have detected up to this point.

"Um, no sir that wasn't me. I am still spinning over here and I think I am going to throw up, and it might be purple."

I seem to have only been distracted by the dizziness for a moment while I was detecting the projectile. Now it is back in full force.

"Alright, all of the other groups get a three for now while I recover from the pain. I will look over them later and adjust your scores. Class dismissed. And Mrs. McRemitz! Please recover your fellow groupmate on the way out." They walk over and remove the cuffs and dispel the illusion. I fall to the floor.

"I will find ways to get even with you!" I shout as I try to get my bearing.

*It is later in the day, after school. Athenox meets up with Devin and Macy at the forges to receive instruction from Clara and Corey. Scene 2.*

"It is good to see everyone taking an interest in the proper modification and maintenance of one's own phantasm weapon, as should be common practice of any fighter who wishes to excel." Corey says.

He sounds just like a teacher, almost in similar tone to Mr.'s voice. Except he seems to be a lot more serious in his words than Mr. who uses them as a sarcastic tool to for hidden words of true enlightenment among thick layers of witty remarks.

"Corey, you can really cut the formalities. They have already joined the team, so it doesn't really matter if you are nice to them in their training or not. Not to mention that they asked us for help, which puts them in a position in which they are willing to do more for their own power. We could really have fun with three slaves." Clara states almost too openly.

Her appearance seems to match her oh so bright and shining personality. She is wearing a long black coat over her white uniform shirt and black jeans, topped off with a pair of black combat boots. I also sense a very intensely dark aura emanating from her but I can't tell if that is just by judging from her appearance and personality or if that is actually the magic essence coming from her soul.

"Nonsense Clara! I believe that formalities are a key part of any conversation between dignified members of society." Corey says.

"Get a hold of yourself, Corey. Of the present company in this room, I wouldn't really call this group "dignified". In fact, you and the El-Melloi kid are probably the closest, but even that is a stretch given your literal proximity to the first families of your factions, the Emiya kid is just an idiot who claims to be the bloodthirsty war prince of the dark faction which is unlikely given that every fight he has been so far has just been a thoughtless unskilled attempt that only barely succeeds through pure luck alone. Then there is Macy, who we know virtually nothing about except for the fact that she is a really weak Assassin mage who our beloved President Aubrey vouched for and used her one prospect override vote on to assure that she could be on the team without any form of background knowledge, but because Mrs. is Mrs., then she just let her favorite student do what she wants to. It infuriates me to be on this team ever since Kotomine became our student organization president, and it infuriates me that I am required to be down here and help with these losers." Clara rants her apparent list of grievances against us.

Mrs. told me that the student leaders for the team are chosen based on both their skill in combat and ability to operate as a leader who is responsible for helping and guiding their fellow teammates when they seek it. So why would she ever have chosen someone so cold and cruel to be one of her leaders? Mrs. always has a good explanation for everything and this is probably no different. If I want to figure out why than I will have to talk to her about it later when I get the chance to. Clara walks off quickly and Corey begins to walk after her.

"I am very sorry for her. She can be very blunt about things. I will go try to calm her down but it is unlikely that we will be able to give you any proper lessons about weapon forging, but feel free to use the workstation. I will allow you to use it under my passcode as a student organization leader, so that way you will not be restricted on the tools or materials that you can use. Please be safe and smart about what you are doing, and also be sure to use proper safety equipment. Say, Athenox. Mr. had told me that you were familiar with some spirit essence crafting?"

"Um…yeah. I mean I have handled a lot of basic things in terms of minute adjustment…"

"Well then good. I am sure that you can teach these two individuals. Wait! Clara! Calm down!" Corey runs out of the forges after Clara.

Did he just put me on the spot like that? I am not sure what is going on with the leaders.

"I don't really understand what just happened." I say.

"Clara seemed like a nice person last week when we were at the Student organizations display." Devin tries to convince us.

"Well it seems that is was just a front to get us in the door." Macy says.

"Oh come on. I don't think she could possibly be that bad. I probably just figure that she like everyone has a past that directly influences their future." I might be stretching the limits of that excuse by a little bit.

"Do you think that the rest of the team leaders may also be this torn and conflicted with the leadership structure?" Devin says.

"I really do not know if that is an appropriate question to ask since we have not been in the team long enough to get involved with their personal affairs yet, and if they decide for us not to then we should respect their wishes. Anyway, didn't you come down here to figure out what is up with those weapons that you found?" Macy says.

I guess she is right and I shouldn't really be involving myself in their personal problems unless they ask for it, but even that bugs me because if it becomes a problem in which they cannot cooperate as leaders then they will lead the team into chaos and disarray. Even if you do not like someone, you should still be able to maintain a respectful coexistence in most cases.

"Yeah that is right. Athenox, you still have those items from the spirit right?"

"They are right here in my backpack… Well… I thought they were, but now all that is there is spirit residue." I say flustered as I look through my backpack.

"How can that be if they were intact for so long to begin with?" Devin asks.

"Well I wasn't thinking about it much but if they were the spirit's weapons summoned with the spirit's magic, then once the spirit was destroyed, the magical energy link between the spirit and the items that kept them summoned was removed and the items could only last so long with the remaining amounts of mana left in them. So sometime between Lunch and now, they must have just ran out." I explain in my best attempt.

"Well how are we going to know what they do if we don't have them?"

"Wouldn't we just have to summon them again and link those copies to someone else's mana supply?" Macy asks.

"Well maybe. The visor's design could be replicated and operated by most users as it didn't seem to require mana to use as much as it seemed to be a kind of containment or filtering device that would interrupt or mitigate the release of mana from an area, which would in this case be the eyes. The daggers on the other hand were spirit weapons and as a result would require a lot of mana to maintain and use, which I could guess would be a phantasm weapon."

"Meaning?"

"For the daggers, we would need someone to have to replace their current phantasm weapon summon in exchange for them."

"Replace their phantasm weapon? Why would anyone do that at this current stage of mage training? It would almost do more harm than good considering you are all but guaranteed to replicate the weapon with a lesser structural integrity than your previous one, and you would possibly have to get use to the mana operation and physical operation of a new weapon type." Devin asks as he always likes to ask me questions.

"What if the weapons were in a similar enough proximity to the previously used phantasm weapon summon for both the physical wielding of it and the control of the weapon's mana flow and within a margin of acceptance, structural integrity didn't matter as much?" Macy asks.

"Well for my case as a Saber mage, where a sword is literally the namesake of the class, daggers would hardly be compatible as a primary weapon, even though it is the second class on my class composite as of right now and I have trained to use them. I still would not take them as my primary weapon though."

"Macy, you are getting at the fact that Assassin mages do not have a rigid restriction on their phantasm weapons or weapon quality compared to other classes, but if they did then they would be daggers, or knives, based on their common style or usage of waiting to strike until close up at an opportune time." Devin states.

"Macy, what is your current phantasm weapon? And are you sure that it is worth giving up?"

"If I am to become a better Assassin mage, then I will need weapons that fit better than what I currently have."

"If that is what you truly want and you are prepared to face the consequences, then I as a fellow mage who likes to keep pushing my abilities further, will help you." I gladly agree.

"I guess I can agree with that, but what will that require, if she doesn't have the actual weapons here to bind with, nor did her soul choose those daggers to qualify as hers from birth."

"I know it is possible, as many mages have been known to swap their phantasm weapons throughout the course of their life. Check Corey's notes on the workstation. Search near his first or second year."

"We really shouldn't go through his stuff like that. It seems like an invasion of privacy to look at someone's private content and research gathered from embarrassing amounts of trial and error." Macy says.

"We do not have a choice since I am not fully familiar with the process, and I also do not want to take any unnecessary risks of this going wrong."

"Here! It is a section on summoning, specifically about weapons. I will read it. It says that summoning, Projection, or Gradation Air, as it is commonly referred to in ancient text, is the baseline ritual for summoning items through magic. Summoning weapons as phantasm weapons requires a more heavy duty version of the spell to create the item with enough accuracy, precision, and structure to operate as an individual's permanent weapon. This version is known as Soul Tracing, for it requires the user's soul to force the weapon into its control. It requires the new intended recipient, both the new and old phantasm weapons in question, and a link to the weapon in either spiritual or physical form. It should be noted that the spell requires three to seven people to maintain. Anymore and the effect would dilute the quality of the weapon by one measurable increment for each additional participant as it is not a Unified Hybrid spell, and any less would cause far too heavy a strain for any currently known mages which could cause severe cases of mana drain with effects including the loss of limbs, organs, or the loss of one's soul or body entirely, but in minor cases would likely just cause dizziness. And the word clumsiness is crossed out and I can't tell what that means."

"Well then it is a good thing that we have three people here. Let just hope it counts the person who is transferring their weapon." Macy says.

"How involved are the directions, and does it say specifically that we can do it without the original phantasm weapon?"

"It uses a seven step process to convert the imprint from the previous weapon to the new weapon. Each step serves as an activation gate and some weapons could have an activation gate that would be locked from being safely accessed by the casters of the spell. In order it goes Concept, Structure, Material, Skill, Experience, Years, and Manufacturing. Each individual keyword serves a critical purpose and a weapon is not considered finished or stable until it has reached the end of the Manufacturing phase, since certain weapon effects are not added in until certain phases. If you happened to lack certain parameters for the requirements of the spell, then you substitutions can be made. A soul forge or collection of soul forges can supplement the mana cost, and if the intended new phantasm weapon is not in possession then a design of one may be used, or even further, an item that holds relevance to the phantasm who used the weapon if that is more convenient."

"Well I guess works." Devin says.

"Think again. We don't have the blueprint for the weapon nor an item of relevance to that spirit because they both dissolved earlier today. Did you not remember what we already established, Devin?" Macy says to Devin.

"Yes I do, but I was not talking about the items that we got from the spirit. Devin replies to Macy's condescending question.

"Macy, he may actually be right. In theory, I have already seen both of the items, and when I was fighting the spirit I did replicate and use those daggers against her. Part of me being able to replicate an opponent's weapon required my magic energy to be absorbed into it. I should be able to create a link for you using the visor that I had intended to create, and with the forge I should also be able to make the outline of the weapon for you to imprint or reshape with your old weapon summons."

"Okay, Athenox. If you think that will work then can we please be done with this over explanation and just get started?"

To start I just have to focus on the visor and all that I remember from that fight, what purpose it serves, what it is made out of, how it would have been created, how much effort would have been put into making it, how long it would have taken, and finally as I throttle an excessive amount of mana into my hands. I can feel it taking shape but it isn't quite right. I am still missing something very important, and that is the name. The visors will not be able to take shape properly with enough structural integrity to be used if I can't materialize it with its name in a proper designation as a one word aria. Think, the spirit used it to disable the function of magic in her eyes, to break it almost like it was a curse she didn't really want, and that scene when I tried to counter the effect. I want to use it to limit or break the intense effects of my own detection. I want to use it to break the void magic into following my will. That's it!

"Void Breaker!"

I shout out as the visor appears in my hands, even though they do not quite look as I remember. It isn't even a visor at all, but instead a pair of black and red glasses, with purple tinted lenses.

"I think you messed the spell up, because those are not the same visors that you pulled out of your backpack at lunch, which means that they are also not the same visors that were recovered from the corrupted spirit." Devin states.

"I do not know what happened. I was sure I remembered what I had visualized and what I felt when I use the counter magic effect on it."

"Well do you think that it will work?" Macy asks.

"Well it is based off of the item from the spirit, so there is no reason why it shouldn't work. Athenox, put those glasses on so you don't have your hands full for the ritual. Then maybe you can see what you did wrong with the summoning of them." Devin says.

"A pun really, right now? You just really felt the need to? Even I know that there is a time and place for everything."

I put the glasses on and as of right now I do not feel any different other than the bizarre difference of looking through the purple tint.

"Wow, your already purple eyes look weird through the purple tint. It kind of makes them glow." Macy exclaims.

"Yeah, after first meeting you without glasses, they make you look different. Now on to the weapon summoning spell." Devin says.

Macy takes out her phantasm weapons, which are a pair of hammers and places them on the table of the workstation. We use the spirit essence from the forge to cover the hammers. The hammers start to shatter as Macy starts to over empower them. Then we arrange the essence into an "x" shape that represents the crude shape of a pair of crossed daggers, and then we start to chant the keywords required for the spell.

"Concept."

The vision of the daggers emanate in my mind. Daggers are used as weapons designed for quick, close ranged, and subtle strikes. The chains attached could be used as a clever means to control an opponent's actions in a multitude of different ways.

"Structure."

Metallic, no argument there, as I felt when I dealt with the strikes of that weapon dealt by the spirit.

"Material."

The specific type of metal that the mana is forming as is unclear to me, although it feels old and shadowy. Older than any metal I am familiar with, which are just metals used today such as copper, steel, iron, and aluminum so I am not the best expert on that front. The weapon seemed to want to use the shadow veil of its user to hide itself, like it wasn't the main weapon that the corrupted spirit had but instead just the most appropriate.

"Skill."

It had a very complicated and intricate design that would have required a confident weapon forger to make, but the spirit summoned it autonomously, like it was so easy that it just had to ask for it.

"Experience."

The spirit handled them in an effective manner that could only be from heavily disciplined usage. The speed, and the way she could use them were almost more beautiful and graceful than violent.

"Years."

The lifespan of the daggers seems quite extended, which may also explain the weird feeling I get from the shadowy metallic structure. I can't put a number on it, but if I had to approximate then I would say definitely older than a million years ago before the cataclysmic event that all of the records after suggest happen. The event when corruption flooded the world.

"Manufacturing."

The daggers seem to be responding to the chanted words, and forming in the exact shape of the ones that the spirit used. Upon their completion, they seem to react and reappear in Macy's hands.

"Then I guess it worked?" Devin asks.

"Yeah it worked really well." I finish my sentence as drop to my knees suddenly.

"Athenox what happened?" Macy and Devin rush to try and help me back up.

"I am not sure. I barely used any mana." They put me in a chair near the workstation.

"How much effort did you put into the spell, because I think you may have miscalculated?"

If that is true then I didn't even realize it. Although, the keywords for the spell seem to imply a required knowledge needs to either be known to be gathered about the field. Neither of them really knew that much about the weapons other than their appearance. They didn't fight with or against them in combat, but I did and as a result I had gained that knowledge with my void magic. Meaning that I was the one putting in the primary magic power of the spell. Oh well, it worked. This isn't as bad as any of the other times so I should be fine in a few minutes. In the meantime Macy and I instruct Devin how to repair his weapons.

*After the long and interesting day, Athenox is asleep in his room when he encounters another dream. Scene 3.*

I am back in the same desert place from which all of my dreams seem to start. As the sands shift and alter the landscape in its usual manner. My mind is flooded with thoughts. The scene of the spirit I saw within that reality marble. Her calling out my last name.

"Emiya!" She reaches her hands out as the twelve dark figures from before rip away at her eyes and manipulate her form into a dark creature herself.

The dessert around me is split open to reveal a building that looks like a school. I rush through the front gates and then immediately find myself on the roof. The spirit herself is standing in front of me. Unlike when I fought her, she isn't covered in shadowy aura, but her presence is still very dark. Almost like it her mana I being held in. As I approach, she starts to speak.

"What do you intend to do? You are nothing but a weak magus. I have been following you around upon order and have gathered that much. Your involvement is unnecessary and killing you would bring about no serious repercussion in this war." She says to me.

I don't understand what her words mean. What war? Why would someone I apparently know kill me?

"Rider wait! You don't have to do this. We can work around this. Your master should know better."

Wait.

Why did I say that? Those weren't my words at all.

"Actually, not only is it critical that I do so, I am also forced to through my new master. As you know, the series of complications caused by your actions led to this. So know it is time to carry through on my order." She readies her daggers and rushes for me."

"Trace On!" I shout.

That isn't a phrase that I have ever heard before. It must be an incantation because as soon as I say it, a strange pair of blades appear in my hand. What is going on? I have never seen these blades before. They are also far weaker than my normal blade, Caliburn. About 50% weaker to be specific. I barely manage to block the daggers as she reaches me. I try to evade and counter a few of her strikes but she has me on the defensive and I can't do much about it. It is like my body is lagging behind my thoughts. It is like I have no control. My blades break after absorbing another strike. I feel exhausted, which is a strange experience this early into any fight. My body feels like it might break. I don't know what this fight is but I just know that I can't lose. I need to win, at whatever costs. I must be determined to win at whatever costs, so I reach out my hands and force mana into my hands. I produce Caliburn and in turn the sky takes on a dark red tint. She looks surprised but not thrown off guard like when I took her weapon in the corrupted forests outside of Avalon City. I rush at her seeming to gain an advantage. I observe that this Caliburn is still in no real comparison to mine but it seems to be enough to turn it around. I try to finish her off. I am unable to and she is getting stronger and faster. Teleporting around in a way that is inhumanly possible for any skill level of mage. I simply can't keep up with her.

"Wait, Shirou. That's my sword!" A voice seems to convey to me in my mind in some kind of telepathy.

Whose voice is that? If someone else is claiming to have this blade then I must know who it is. My thoughts are interrupted by a loud scream that echoes over the whole area. Suddenly the spirit I was fighting is directly in front of me and stabs the dagger right through my heart.

"Sorry, but you are not allowed to cheat." She says as she leans in close to me.

What does she mean cheat? All I did was summon a different weapon. One that I have more skill with.

"What are you talking about? I don't even know what is going on here. I have no clue what is happening on or why you want to kill me. This doesn't even make any sense! Dreams are supposed to be about my memories and experiences.

"Selfish idiot!"

A different voice shouts at me as the spirit pushes me off of the building. As I fall the landscape changes again. I land impaled on a bed of swords. More of my organs are pierced through. I should easily be dead by now, and yet I still seem to try to be getting up autonomously. The pain is unnerving and is the sharpest pain that I have ever experienced. Through all of the blood in my eyes, I see a figure standing in a cave. Everything else is hazy and the fact that I can see that much is a feat itself. The figure starts to speak as it discerns itself from the rest of the cavern.

"You are a weak and insolent being whose actions have meant nothing and whose end will mean even less. The fact that you think that you deserve the right to call yourself a hero is an outrage to heroes everywhere. Now die in the noblest death that you deserve!"

The figures voice is that of a woman. She raises her sword in the air. Oh no. I have seen that move before. It is the very move that I was taught to use when fully empowering Caliburn. I feel the severity of how broken and drained this body is and know that I have no defense against it and nothing in which I could possibly try to do will escape it.

"Ex…"

The glow from her raised blade is intense and dark. Whatever that blade is, it must be strong to produce that level of energy.

"…Calibur!"

She shouts as the sword slams down and releases all of its energy and the blast wave tears right through my body. Destroying me at the molecular level by tearing my cells apart from each other. It is so painful that it can no longer be felt due to the pain registering and then overloading my nerve endings. I lose any form of recognition that I am even a physical person that exists. I do not blackout, but my vision simply fades out as an overwhelming white noise.

*End of episode 8.*


	9. Chapter 9

Fate/Academy: Episode 9

*It is the next day, and Athenox intends to meet with Mrs. in the Team's student organization building to get help in trying to figure out the events of yesterday, all of them. He walks in to her office. Scene 1.*

"Hey Mrs.?" I ask as I approach the desk in her office.

"Yes, Athenox?" She replies back to me.

"I was wondering if you wanted to spar, because I have things I need to figure out and you usually are the best person to help me figure them out since you are a void mage with a sword also."

"While I certainly wish I could help, as part of the executive faculty and lead Saber teacher, I have to help plan the upcoming Blademaster tournament." She starts to walk towards the door but then stops and turns around to me.

"Oh by the way. I had heard from some of the other students that you were going to compete in the Blademaster competition? Is that correct?"

"If we weren't going to be on an all-night spirit hunting trip, then yes. Luke and I had to find a compromise since we both agreed that our fight on the first day is no longer applicable and we will hopefully both be stronger by then and can face off without any problems such as mana drain or overload, as we both have had. Also, I think everyone might be getting a little sick of him saying something ignorant that forces me to have to respond with a lesson in respectful manners."

"So to put it mildly, you were drawing your phantasm weapons on each other in the middle of class?"

"Yeah, I guess the words "Dark Caliburn" came out of my mouth a few times." I scratch my head as I nervously laugh.

"Hmm… Well as long as this competition will settle things once and for all, then I guess I can agree with it. Besides, nearly all of the Sabers on the team are already competing. And about that sparring match. I may not be able to, but I can assure you that someone else on your team would have no problem with it. One of your upperclassmen to be exact."

"Connor! Can you hear me?" She says out loud.

"Yes, Mrs. I can hear you, what do you need?" Connor says as he appears through the door.

"Athenox wants to spar in order to figure out his abilities and to prepare for Blademaster. I figured you would want to since you have been curious about his abilities since we first considered him being on the team, and you will provide a close approximation of what the upper level competitors will be like. I would insist that you go and use one of the arenas upstairs to be closer to competition regulations. Use the authentication code if you need to. Oh, and Connor."

"Yes Mrs.?"

"Do not hold back on him, but give him constructive feedback and bear in mind that he nor any of the other freshman have their mystic code aria yet, but they will by the time of the tournament." She walks out of the room.

"Well you heard Mrs., to the arenas." Connor exclaims excitedly.

*Connor and Athenox are on an active arena. Scene 2.*

"Ok Athenox. The Blademaster tournament that you are going to be competing in is as you know a competition for Saber mages only. This is important because it means that it will not involve any overpowered spells or tricks that would formally be known as high level magecraft, so sword skill and technique can allow you to rival those who may be stronger under normal circumstances through magic. However with that said, most spells or abilities from which a Saber mage can pull from are not high magic but still powerful nonetheless. When fighting and opponent, it is important to take note of their second class on their composite list. Since major abilities are still able to be pulled from this spot. It will also usually be shouted out by the announcers at each match so it is very easy to pick up on. Now to start each match, you will be allowed and want to do a full weapon summon, since the structural integrity and mana capacity matter when you are going head to head in close combat, as is popular with most Saber mages. When you compete, you will also be in a basic activation form of your individual mystic code. It is an aria or chant with a fraction of its full power designed to be summoned and allow you to take far less damage from a mage's phantasm weapon and spells. They can prevent you from getting knocked out by some of the upper level attacks at the cost of restricting the amount of mana you can flow through your body. I am sure that Mrs. will give you a full explanation of how they work in class since she is your Saber instructor, but I will show you what a proper summon looks like." Connor raises hands out and starts to chant.

The aura emanating from him when he does so is immense, like the buildup of mana that is about to be released.

"Solemnly standing on the side of what I believe in, repercussions without regrets. Becoming a hero who holds his values and his sword high. Honoring this code, Chivalry of Fafnir." As he shouts the last words the mana he had built up is released and a set of armor appears on him. It is silver colored and has dark scales in-between the metal plates. The magic coming off of the armor is very densely packed into this physical form. It has a very beastly aura. He makes a second chant to summon his weapon.

"Balmung, Felling of the Sky Demons!" His great sword appears in his hands. The golden great sword shimmers in the light of the arena.

"Now your turn."

"Dark Caliburn!" My black and red sword appears in my hand. It is very dark, especially in contrast to Connor's weapon.

"We are going to start on three, okay?"

"Okay, makes sense."

"One…"

I can tell right away he is going to trick me. He is charging up his enhancements too early to simply be going on three. I take my sword and throw it in the air.

"Two…"

He starts charging towards me, almost like he is gliding across the arena floor as he closes in on me. His sword could cut me across the chest if I don't time this right. I can't give him any warning time to adjust his strike. As his sword is within moments of reaching me, I jump up and use Displacement to reach the sword and start to dive down towards Connor in a strike. He catches the strike with his blade. Instantly, Caliburn shatters against his sword and I slide into the ground right past Connor.

"Three…"

Why did my sword break? There is no real reason for it, at least no reason that I can notice.

"I am impressed that you noticed and managed to evade so easily, but clearly you didn't seem to put much effort into your weapon summoning. That will not get you very far in the Blademaster, and would never get you in the door of the Grail War." He says as I get back up.

"Fine."

Does he think I am messing around? That was a lot of effort and mana on that weapon summon. If I happened to overload the weapon when I displaced because of the range I used it then I will just have to try again.

"Caliburn!" The weapon reappears as I run towards Connor and swing at him. The weapon once again breaks as our swords connect.

"I said that if you aren't going to take this seriously, then you aren't going to get very far. I think it is time that I start fighting back. Maybe that will be a more convincing argument."

He takes the butt end of his sword and smashes it into my gut. The jewel on the end nearly impales me as I fly back only barely managing to regain my footing at the edge of the arena. Something isn't right. I think he may be taking it a little too far for a sparring match. More importantly, why is my sword breaking? I won't even be able to land a strike if I can't do something about it. I was able to summon it just fine the earlier day and landing hits against targets without falling apart. So, I have to wonder what is so different between earlier today and now. The only explanation is that it is something Connor is doing. Some ability that he can do is instantly able to break my sword on contact.

"Hey, Connor? I have a question for you."

"Save your questions until after you manage to land a hit on me, and then I will talk." Connor responds back.

I haven't made enough contact with his weapon to try and replicate it, and if there is something wrong with my weapon summoning then I doubt it would hold up any better against him. It would just shatter on contact. I have an idea…

"Let's see what you are going to do now." He taunts me.

I rush in with a weapon summon the same as before. I attempt to strike, knowing it will shatter and break. I swing upwards as the blade breaks, and then I summon another one that breaks on a downswing. That blade was rushed so it wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. I dodge one of his swings and wind up an attack with a third blade that I summoned in. It breaks but leaves me open with a perfect opportunity for Connor to hit me with a downswing, which he starts to. I catch that downswing with my hands. The force is enough to leave pretty deep cuts on my hands. I deflect the sword to the right of me and run straight towards Connor. I punch him in his side and strike with a fourth blade summoned in sequence. Neither were really effective against Connor's armor, but at least they hit him.

"There is the Athenox that I saw go head to head against that corrupted spirit, and win almost every duel he has fought in so far. I was wondering when you were going to finally show up to this sparring match."

"What do you mean? I have been fighting the whole time." I reply to his exclamation

"Not really. You were not fighting to your truest self, but instead how you probably think of yourself as. By only relying on charging straightforward in a typical Saber fashion, you assumed your body into a criteria it could not physically meet."

"And that is?"

"That you are strong enough or well-trained enough to charge at me with a swinging strike which is easily predictable, and that you could force me back with that single strike. By the looks of it, you lack the muscle mass needed to deal or absorb a heavy hitting strike. Which is why you tend to get thrown around like a ragdoll against most opponents. You also are not overly fast but within a small range such as arena combat you can use evasive tactics such as your Displacement ability to outmaneuver enemies. Also worth noting that for a Saber mage, you have nearly twice the normal mana pool, and you seem to be able to use it to your advantage in most situations. Rapidly re-summoning yours or other people's weapons, Forcing your weapons to Overload with mana, and multiple strikes with your weapon at a moderate level of empowerment. All of those things would nearly drain most Saber mages. Which is very important considering that you shouldn't operate so rigidly on your magus class. Just because you are a Saber doesn't mean that you don't also show exceeding talent in other classes. It is important to keep that in mind because a good magus can realize that and even see it in other people. The competition format even lists a mages top two classes for that reason. So we are going to continue, but this time I want you to acknowledge that a Saber is more than their sword."

His words sound like an inspirational battle speech or an epic fable about a hero with a fighting spirit and proud, optimistic, and unchallenged ideals. As cheesy as they sound, he is right. I can't be so blindingly straightforward in combat because will never work. He charges in at me again. "A Saber is more than their sword"? The phrase in a literal context wouldn't sound right, since most Saber mages use magic that focuses on their swords and are often measured and ranked by their sword's capabilities. However, all mages have a class composite which ranks and orders their performance within all seven mage classes. After Saber, my next highest is Assassin, which never really made since to me until now. When I was living in Undercity, I was always just rushing into battles sword first. In this fight that won't work since he is physically superior. I will have to focus on creating opportune times to quickly strike.

"So Connor, may I ask you those questions that I wanted to ask you earlier?" I say as I evade his initial strike.

"Go for it." He says as he adjusts and attempts another chain of strikes.

"How are you able to work with a team? "

"In what way?" He responds as I slam and shatter another copy of Caliburn into his sword.

"Well yesterday in Mr.'s class, we were doing the cooking challenge and my team decided to tie me to a chair while they were cooking. As I was sitting there, I saw something I only thought I was capable of. They were cooperating and working very efficiently together, even though they haven't known each other very long. They said they tied me to the chair so to prevent my abilities from going haywire in class but I don't really know if that is the real reason behind it."

I take a strike to the left arm but manage to displace away before it cut too deep and am only slightly grazed by it.

"Hmm? I think that it is just a simple matter of upbringing. The world is in a time of peace for most of the factions. So as a result, they lived in peaceful environments in which they could let their guard down go to school and allow themselves to peacefully interact with others. In your case however, things were not as peaceful. Undercity being so isolated from the rest of the factions, it is often unknown that the illusion of peace in which your father, Hades, had tried to put up in agreement to match the rest of the world was just that. An illusion. The conflicts weren't all encompassing and life for most of the population of the city may have been as normal, but for the prince of the leader who is trying to maintain that peaceful illusion, the social environment may have been a little off from what others, especially in the Holy Council, would consider normal. Not to mention the shifting between parents nearly every other year, which as you grow up would not create the same stability in which ones guard could be lowered and friends could be so easily interacted with."

"How do you know all of that?"

"Mrs. has us do a very thorough background check on all of our perspective students. The point is, while you were growing up and interacting with people, you never really trusted others. You were probably always looking over your shoulder to some extent. Never getting to close to a person. In Undercity, at the worst of this conflict, you also probably had to be secluded from the rival factions who could overpower you and use you against your father." He explains his reasoning as I just barely miss an upswing from Balmung.

"I guess that is mostly true, even though I do have a few clarifications I would want to add to that at a later date. Oh another thing. What is wrong with Clara? She seemed kind of upset yesterday when we showed up to get help on phantasm weapon forging. I know it isn't really my place to ask but I would feel really bad if it is something that I did."

"You have been evading most of this fight, and it almost seems pointless. To answer your question though, no it is not something that you did on purpose. Mostly she is just being overdramatic, but the team's current structure is very displeasing to her and most of the seniors on our team. We didn't used to be this separated from each other. Instead, we all used to work together in a more direct manner that could easily handle anyone's problems. Then our current organization's president, Aubrey, presented the argument that we change that. Aubrey claimed that it would be more efficient and more effective to divide into the three separate teams that we have today, and have all matters handled by the leaders of each of those teams. Technically her argument isn't wrong and the saying "divide and conquer" does still hold true, but as a result, it would incapacitate all cooperation between the groups in most cases. It would also limit any direct contact from an individual team member to Mrs., who is ultimately the lead mentor or coach of the team. Honestly, the fact that you have just freely been given training and sparring matches directly with Mrs. is a very unusual occurrence, especially in your freshman year. Clara is a little jealous of that fact because even as seniors getting training from Mrs. is a struggle and we usually rely on self-teaching. Mainly, she is angry with Aubrey for proposing and effectively changing the team structure, and Mrs. to a lesser extent because she didn't intervene in the decision and let Aubrey have her way. Which is as Clara thinks, is a usual occurrence for Aubrey and that Mrs. Lanslac likes to play favorites. Which isn't totally true, but the argument is arising for you because you are a Void affinity mage. It is not anything to worry about though."

Is this really all that is happening on the team? I wonder how hard the other freshman are working to become good friends with each other even though this very system is designed to separate and silence them. I didn't know that Mrs. wasn't working with everyone, at least the other saber mages. I thought all of the seniors were casual and friendly with one another. There is a major instability on the team. I should probably learn more before I decide to make any major moves. The blade falls out of my hands and hits the floor. Connor is fairly calm about the situation considering its effect on the team, and his sister. Even though his presence looks like he could get angry if he wanted to. His silver hair that runs just past his shoulders, on top of his silver armor, makes him look like some kind of knight that would truly be a force to reckon with. If this was a matter of black and white, or right and wrong, then I am sure he would have already charged in with his sword and dealt with the issue. Unfortunately, the situation is between teammates who are in some capacity close friends, and to say that either side is right or wrong would be to mistake the situation entirely. Which leaves them at a scarred stalemate. I can feel that frustration and pain in his presence, in the same way that I now realize that I could feel it in the presence of all of the seniors involved. It sticks out, and wants to be physically acknowledged as an entity of its own that is shared across its victims. I summon my blade in my hand, and amplify that feeling within it. Caliburn is engulfed by my mana and immediately altered by it. Broken images of phantasm swords that I have seen flood through my mind. The mana coating my blade shifts and reshapes itself over and over again, not consistently solidifying as a single shape. The lines of the ritual we used for Macy's new phantasm ring in my head. Concept, Structure, Material, Skill, Experience, Years, and Manufacturing. Concept, Structure, Material, Skill, Experience, Years, and Manufacturing. Concept, Structure, Material, Skill, Experience, Years, and Manufacturing. On repeat with each weapon that flashes in my head. Why?

"Athenox! Are you okay?" As I am regaining focus, I feel the collective buildup of mana on my sword, urging me to command it to take an intended form. Connor is shaking me by my arms to get my attention.

"Demon Sword of the Skies, Balmung!" The sword flashes into the form of Connor's phantasm.

I leap backwards.

"So you copied my weapon? I did not know if it is in your skillset to use it." Connor says.

"It wasn't easy to summon, and took a lot of mana. I also have now idea why I did it. The summoning was almost like an impulse, but there was a lot of resistance in it. Like I had to use mana just to force more mana into the spell just so I could summon it. My body already feels strained by it and I am not sure how much longer I will be able to be standing up and fighting but I don't care. Pushing yourself allows you to reach new limits, and be able to undertake greater challenges. Challenges such as ending the pain of others. So Connor, I want you to keep fighting me until I pass out and as Mrs. said, don't hold back."

Connor and I rush towards each other. He unleashes a flurry of strikes, which I am now able to deflect and counter against. His sword skill is very good. I lack the advantage of forceful attacks that he has by wielding the weapon with two hands, but I am faster in principle by wielding my weapon in one hand even though it goes against the physical constraints of the weapon. I attempt to block his blade with mine. I slide to left as they connect, but I am able to leap over and guide the blade aside. While I try to pursue the gap, Connor catches me in an upswing and sends me to the ground behind him. As I impact with the floor, I can feel the sheer amount of damage that his Balmung can do. The sword has started to leave holy energy burns from where his heaviest hits were. I haven't even left a scratch on him. It is like he is immune to my damage because he is unresponsive to the clean hits that I left on him. I can tell that I am about to lose consciousness, but I want at least one more attack before I go down.

"Are you done?" Connor asks me while he is still facing away from where I am lying on the arena floor.

I get this weird feeling from the mana in the space around us. His mystic code's mana structure. I am unsure how it works. The mana of the plates and dragon scales are densely packed to the point where I am unsure of how my mana could have seeped in in the first place. I can only sense one exposed part from where the mana could have gone. In fact it is the part where the mana coming from his armor seems to be the thinnest or almost nonexistent, and it is on the small of his back. If I want an effective hit, then it has to be there. As I am on the floor and my body is exhausted and in pain from getting knocked around so much, I slowly pull the sword back until it is pointing behind me.

"Almost!" I say as I throttle all of my remaining mana into my copied Balmung. It bursts out in an orange beam and I launch towards Connor. About halfway, I ready the sword for a final attack aimed at that one focused weak point in his armor.

"Clever attempt but you are not fast enough." He must have been able to detect it without question, because as I approach, he turns around to face me and jabs forward with the back end of his weapon. As I slam into the weapon, the pain rushes through me. I immediately begin to cough up blood as he instantly forces the blade down and I crash into the floor. The Balmung in my hand shatters and I black out in a pool of my own blood.

*Athenox, after having been wiped across the floor, wakes up in his bed. It seems to be a later that night. His roommates are sitting around his room. Scene 3.*

"Where am I?" I think for a second after my mind reels back to the fight from which last remember.

"Looks who is finally awake!" Luke says as he stands up and walks over to me.

"You are in your room. After your sparring match, Connor and Mrs. rushed you to the infirmary to treat you. Then they dropped you off in your room once you were okay." Micheal says.

"Oh, I see. Then how long have you guys been in here?"

"Well we were instructed by Mrs. to watch you and make sure you didn't go critical from some weird aftershocks of the fight. We haven't been here long...Today." Luke says.

"Today? How long was I out? It is still Friday right?" I ask not feeling good about the answers I am about to receive.

"Well technically it is Friday." Gabriel says.

"What do you mean?" I respond, with potential concern.

"Mrs. wasn't sure how you would take this but I guess we just have to say it. You were almost dead. Connor feels really bad about it, but he accidentally struck with a fully empowered attack. The amount of force exceeded the absorption of the field by an amount which was still tremendous enough to shatter nearly every bone in your body. It only took them the rest of that day to fix you, but between that and the mana drain you have been in unconscious in a coma for about a few weeks." Luke explains.

"What? I have missed that much school? I am going to be overloaded in makeup work."

"Actually, according to Mrs., that isn't a problem. You were excelling in your class work at the time and with a few recovery tests, you should be fine on that front." Micheal says.

"There is one major problem though. It is the night before the Blademaster competition, and you should not be competing in any strenuous activity for a while. So we will of course have to find a new way to prove that I am better than you, although as I say it, we could just tally up the number of times either of us has wound up blacking up or in the infirmary and whoever has the least is obviously better." Luke says with the usual attempt to be funny even though it clearly isn't working and he shouldn't give up being a mage anytime soon, because his comedy is lackluster.

"Well like you said, I have been sleeping for a few weeks. So I should have rested enough and ready to fight in the Blademaster competition tomorrow."

""How? You missed a very important lesson in class that is required for the tournament, and as a result, you don't have your Mystic Code activation aria yet. They won't even let you sign up without it."

"Oh right, Connor was talking about that earlier when we started sparring but I need to fight tomorrow, so I can beat you and end this once and for all."

"Good because Mrs. actually figured that and will teach you early in the morning. She must really be playing favorites with you."

"No she is not. That is just a false claim from Clara because of Aubrey."

"You really haven't seen her these past few weeks. She has been walking in our room almost every day to run tests on you to figure out why you keep fainting or getting paralyzed in combat. Even weirder is that she has been acting as your substitute on the gathering team while you were out."

"At the beginning, Mrs. said that she would help the team members in any way that she could. She probably would have done the same for any of the other teammates."

"Yeah except she hasn't. In fact, Corey told me about an incident two years ago in his sophomore year. He said that the gathering team had a similar injury and everyone came back from the mission in horrible shape. One person was critically injured. She refused to substitute any members from the other two operating teams at the time, and even sent them back out on two missions the next day. Additionally, the person who got injured was their teams only Saber, which decreased that group's overall effectiveness." I don't understand. When I look at Mrs., she doesn't look like the kind of teacher to do something that harsh. I also don't doubt Corey's words, because he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would just make stuff like that up. I don't know what to belief but this just further explains the current state of the team. I am only hearing all of this second hand, so I can't really decide what is right or wrong and any opinion I have is just speculation. The only thing I know for sure is that I want the Team's pain to end, because they seem like nice people who don't deserve this for themselves.

"I will figure out what I know when it becomes clearer. For now the only thing that the seniors have been telling us is probably just some exaggerated occurrences mixed with their own personal opinions, which I doubt is anything substantial."

"If you want to think that, then that is fine. Oh and Mrs. ordered us to keep a watch on you in case you woke up, and she also told us to make sure that you got your rest for tomorrow and didn't try anything stupid, as is common practice for you."

"Wow! You are one to talk about commonly practiced stupidity…" Before I can provide evidence to support my claim, Luke sucker punches me in the face and I black out.

*Athenox once again finds himself in a bizarre dream. Scene 4.*

I once again find myself in that same desert where I always seem to find myself in my dreams.

"What do you know about the name Vortigern Pendragon?" A women's voice echoes across. Is she asking me, or is it like last time with that corrupted spirit? Before I can think about it more, a burning black flame sweeps across the dessert. When it clears, the scene has changed from the dessert that it was. I can't recognize the location, but I seem to be running up a staircase with multiple people. I can hear all of their footsteps behind me. When we reach the top of the staircase we approach an open throne room filled with a barricade of what look to be about 50 armor clad knights. At the back of the throne room, sitting on a throne, is a very powerful presence in black armor. It is nearly impossible to see his face, but his aged voice booms across the room. It almost doesn't sound human.

"Do you really think that this land was made to be ruled by mere humans? Such filth doesn't deserve to defile this place. The Age of Man is naught but a plague that shall be eradicated." The voice says in an almost maniacal manner. The people who were behind me rush forward and they are also knights. One of them yells out to me from the front of the group.

"Come on! We have to defeat him for our kingdom!" The voice appears to be the same voice from the desert. Are they talking about that thing in the black armor? These dreams must have some specific reasoning for occurring since they are not people or things that I know. I have to figure out more, but from last time it seems like I don't have any real control over the events that are happening. Like my body is just proceeding with whatever the dream does and whenever I try to steer of course or alter what is naturally occurring, the dream reacts by forcing me out. Fine, if it wants me to fight then I will fight. I attempt to summon my blade to my hand. Shock sets in as I look upon the summoned blade only to see Excalibur Galantine, which is Luke's phantasm weapon. Aside from other times when I see Caliburn, this is the most familiar sight I have had one of these dreams. His sword has a silver blade and the handle up to the base is a blue color. It has no guard on it, but the shape of the blade seems to widen at the base to allow a similar function. The sword also seems to give off a bright and glowing aura. I can hold it quite easily in one hand. I rush into the battle and immediately side step a lunging attack that was recklessly made by one of the knights. Afterwards, I turn and slice his arms off in an upswing. Then I run past him and wind up a backswing that decapitates him. It shouldn't have been that easy, but it just happened. There isn't time to explain as I am forced into a shoving match by another knight. His blade tries to force me back but it is effortless as I wedge Galantine around his blade and slam it out of his hands, lunge the sword straight through his armor and pierce his heart. Galantine flashes with a bright light that almost looks like sunlight as it kills the knight in front of me. A group approaches but I slash through them effortlessly. This process of slaughtering through the barricade keeps going until we manage to break through to the back where the figure in dark armor is. Even at this close I am still unable to see his face. It is almost like he is bending the shadows around the throne room with his presence.

"Puny weakling knight, do you really think that you have the power to stop me? This place shall return to its originally intended form. It shall become the darkest hell on earth from which no man can enter and no light can penetrate. It shall remain the beautiful that it was intended to be, and it will be unconquered by all except me." He rants on, in a mentally unstable fashion. I believe that it is a general consensus that overthrowing the world into total darkness is both a bad and stupid plan. So without question, I charge in blade first to try and fight him. Although as I approach him, his form starts to alter into shadow and he releases a mighty roar of shadow that seems to have drained all of the energy from me and drops me to the ground. Galantine lays in front of me, but the bright aura that it had has faded completely and cracks begin to form on it. The figures form expands and breaks through the walls and ceiling of the throne room, causing rubble to fall all around me. Finally the throne room has been completely destroyed and I am crushed by the last of the falling debris. As I blackout, I look up and see the flash of a massive dragon.

*It is the next morning. Early, before the Blademaster competition. Athenox is in Team's student organization building with Mrs. Lanslac. She is fixing to show him how his Mystic Code works. Scene 5.*

"Athenox, how familiar are you with Mystic Codes?" Mrs. looks at me and asks.

"I know that they are certain objects or devices that are powered by a user's mana and require an invocation to activate. Connor summoned his suit of armor with one when we were sparring."

"Well that technically is and isn't quite right. I think a full explanation would be better. For example, take a normal person. They have a body and a soul. A physical and spiritual existence that are linked together. The soul is where your magic comes from. It is your supply of magic energy and your consciousness. Some Enreagent researchers will also try to tell you that it is where your emotions come from and why magic is so deeply affected by your emotions, but until they have more solid evidence I would rule that out as pure speculation." She explains. That research seems pretty solid to me. I mean Berserker mages have to generate an overflow of mana in response to spikes in adrenaline, which is what makes them able to hit like a truck, and never stop fighting until they wear themselves out. At least, that is how my mom explained it to me when I was growing up.

"Anyway, the soul is like a battery in that it has a limited capacity. It can only hold so much within magic energy it or it will overload and detonate, but it has to hold a minimal amount to maintain an existence or it will vanish, in the same fashion as your phantasm weapon. The body is the physical half of this equation in that it can interface between the soul and the outside world. Or back to the example of the battery, it has inputs and outputs that drain or charge your quantity of mana in your soul's battery. This process occurs by mana running along spiritual pathways through your body from your soul. These pathways are of course commonly referred to by most as Magic Circuits."

"So if I am understanding this correctly, Magic Circuits are kind of like your veins except the use magic instead of blood?"

"Yes, that would be a fair assumption."

"So where do the Mystic Codes play in?"

"Mystic Codes are special devices that are outputs for your mana. They will perform specific functions with that mana depending on what type of item they are, and there are of course a wide variety. Student mages receive a baseline Mystic Code that is there school uniform. The uniform is a multi-stage Mystic Code that can activate at different levels depending on how much mana is used. The state that you are wearing it in is an inactivate state. When you fought Connor he was in stage one, which provides a minimum defense against magecraft and attacks from phantasm weapons. In competitions and while on certain missions they are required to be operated on at least stage one, since most magi typically do not find it as easy to restrain themselves. You seem to be trained above the baseline, because those gloves that you have are Mystic Codes as well."

"My gloves? They were something my father gave to me after he trained me in counter magic. He said that they would be better to use in certain circumstances than my phantasm weapon because they are faster to deploy and unlike my phantasm weapon, they are more effective in negating spell casts, and are much more difficult to dispel. My father wanted me to be prepared in case I was ever attacked or targeted in the streets on my way to and from school, or if an assassin from one of the other factions ever tried to catch me off guard."

"Hmm, well you certainly seem to be able to use them quite well in response to a phantasm's attack. Your father definitely wasn't wrong about their effectiveness. Yours is designed as a simple one stage activation. All you have to do is flow your mana into them and then and then use your counter magic from it. Now however, we need to find your aria for your mystic code armor. Stage one only requires two lines of incantation on average. Oh, and put your gloves on so that the armor can account for them when it forms."

I take the gloves out from my back pocket and put them on my hands. They have never been as foolproof as my father made them sound when he was teaching me. When I use them too much I get mana burns on my hands, and they can only negate spells up to a certain level. A fully empowered blast from most phantasm weapons would be enough to cut straight through and damage my hands. The material is a special type of reinforced mage woven polyester that allows the user to freely flow mana into it and create a hardened shell from your mana. A Saber mage would usually avoid using this type of device on their hands because it inhibits mana from flowing to your phantasm weapon when you use them both. I haven't fully tested the gloves in combat since before I started using my own mana as a void mage, but I bet it will be a lot more explosive.

"Alright, now to find your incantation. Typically, the incantation comes from within ones soul and bears heavy emotional meaning to the caster. You shouldn't have to force yourself to find the words. They should just come out on impulse. Once you get used to them they also shouldn't require you to recite all of the lines you need, and if you become skilled enough then you could even link them with a single line or phrase of words. Focus deep within yourself to find the words you want to say and let your inner emotions wash over you."

"My inner emotions? It is a little difficult to just bring them out like that on the spot."

"I understand. Well for most mages, it is often easier to root these words back to reason that they fight. So Athenox, why do you fight?"

Why do I fight?

The question that all conscious souls must ask themselves at least once in their life. Knowing all that I know, I have found it easy to fight when something goes against what you think or believe in. The only real answer I have is that I fight for myself. Right or wrong, good or bad, and justifiable or not. Those concepts are just relative to the person saying them. It is within that gray area that all conflict lives. The conflicts that the lack one sidedness that would allow you to make a simple decision which leaves you trapped and frozen in place. Like you are tied up by your own ideals. The conflict among the team is a perfect comparison of this, because they are all too bound up and attached to do something. I have always grown up hating that feeling of helplessness in a situation like that and I swore after all of that, I would use this power to free myself from those trappings. Gripping the sword in my hand as a way to cut through those binding chains. The sword is how a Saber mage is known and it is also how they fight. They are knights who prefer to follow a code that embodies their will and guides their sword. The words scramble in my mind. Not to mention, all of these strange dreams that I have been having. Not much has been clear about them, but one thing is. The bladed metal from which they fight with. The painful conflicts and the sharp weapons used to stop them. After I chain the words together they then proceed to flow out autonomously from my mouth as I shout them to activate the spell.

"My heart cries out through the binding chains, and my arms cling to the steel around me." I chant with all of the meaning that I can force into the chant.

In an instant, my school uniform flashes in a black and red light. Leaving behind a hooded black cloak that runs all the way down to the knees of my pants. On top of that my chest, arms, waist, legs and boots are reinforced in black steel-like plates that are fastened down with red buckle straps. Red lines that are arranged in a pattern that looks like a circuit can be seen running through the metal plates.

*End of episode 9.*


	10. Chapter 10

Fate/Academy: Episode 10

*Athenox stands before Mrs., wearing his mystic code armor for the first time. Scene 1.*

"Well Athenox, I am not sure if you will ever cease to amaze me." Mrs. says.

"Why? What is it? Is there something wrong with my mystic code?" I ask as I look down and attempt to inspect the armored cloak in its entirety to make sure.

"Well it is just… Most Saber mages tend to go for something like a full suit of armor because it offers more physical protection especially from something like another sword. In your case though, it just further goes to show that you are not a typical Saber mage in the least."

"I don't know. I kind of like it. It almost reminds me of the combat gear I used to wear in Undercity."

That is to say the gear I used to kill people with but that is beside the point.

"Oh it is nothing to worry about." She checks her watch.

"It is time. You need to hurry and check in at the tournament queuing room in the arena."

*Athenox walks to his seat in the tournament queuing room. It just so happens that he is sitting next to Luke and Devin. Micheal is sitting next to Luke and Mary is sitting next to Devin. Scene 2.*

"Hey, Athenox! Glad to see that you are okay. We were all a little worried after your smack down from Connor. It is not easy to believe that he would hit you that hard." Devin states.

"Yeah. Until recently they were still working to repair the arena that you guys were dueling on." Micheal explains.

Glad to see that I fared better than the field did. It only stands to reason since it probably took most of the damage.

"What is wrong with your mystic code?" Luke asks as he stares at me. It must be that bad if I am going to get a whole firing line of questions about it.

"What do you mean, Luke?"

"What he means to ask you is… Are you absolutely sure that you are a Saber mage?" Devin asks me as he reiterates what Luke said, which what they do not know is also a reiteration of what Mrs. had said.

"Say what you will but it won't hinder my mobility like a bulky suit of armor." I say in a desperate attempt to defend myself from their barrage of ridicule.

"And the fact that you are that concerned about mobility further proves that you are not a Saber mage." Luke says in a somewhat jokingly manner.

"Yeah Luke you may be right. He might be an Assassin mage. That does explain why he gets thrown around like a ragdoll whenever he tries to attack head on." Devin adds in.

"You know what? I am not going to take this from a guy in a leather skirt and sleeveless jacket." I say as I point at Devin's mystic code.

The amount of red on his clothing has never been more apparent.

"It is a cuirass, which was common leather combat gear that appeared in many pre-corruption records." Devin tries to defend his poor choice in equipment.

"And I am curious as to why you left your dorm room wearing it. If we are getting on to me for not wearing plate armor, then why aren't we getting on to him? " I retort back to Devin with clever wordplay.

"Because, my muscles make up for metal plates." He exclaims as he now feels obliged to flex them for demonstration.

Apparently this conversation isn't sitting right with Mary because she leans over from her seat and starts to state her feelings on the matter to me.

"Well Athenox, why are you wearing a cloak? What are you trying to hide? It is a tournament and everyone already knows your identity. So why would a cloak even be helpful in the first place?" Mary snaps at me.

Her direct aggression to against me. It is just like her sister was when we were in the infirmary, when Mary was recovering with her fight with von Einzbern. Why? What reason does she have for the hostility? If I was to give in to such an immature response, then I could bring up the fact that she hides her weapon using a cloaking enchant even though it is recorded in the school's database already. I don't actively want to but it may be the best course of action to try and get some answers.

"At least I am not scared enough to have to hide behind a full suit of armor, and I am not so ashamed of my phantasm weapon that I have to cloak it."

Well there it is.

I said it.

So now all I can do is stick behind what I said. Pushed by anger and curiosity.

"Hmm…" Mary bites her tongue and abruptly cuts herself off from saying anything else. She turns away in her chair. If only I had that level of resistance to just ignore what is irritating me, but unfortunately I lack that capability and must react and solve the problem.

"I swear Athenox. You are blessed with a gift. That would be the gift to be disrespectful towards anyone with a Holy Council magic crest." Luke nods his head in disbelief.

"Just when I had thought you weren't half bad." Luke sighs.

"Say um guys? Have you checked the rosters yet to see if they have put up the first round matches?" Devin says desperately trying to change the topic. He has a data tablet in his hands and is scrolling through the Saber category of the school's forums, which are like a series of message boards for the exchanging of information on a wide variety of topics that are going on in the school, and since Blademaster is a big event for Saber mages it would make since that it is under the Saber mage section.

"Here it is!" He exclaims as he pulls up the tournament bracket for the Blademaster competition.

"There are 8 divisions of 8 entrants. They pit two random entrants together and the winner moves on to face another random winner from within their division. This keeps going until each division has 1 entrant, and then they are ordered and paired off into matches based off of performance and technique. Then at the end of it all there is only one winner left. This tournament like all of the other tournaments on campus have a strict set of guidelines put in place depending on the specific tournament. For Blademaster, the focus is on sword skill, so any high level magecraft is banned. High level magecraft is defined as anything over a one line incantation, with the exception of your mystic code armor, which should remain consistently in its stage one activation."

"Sounds simple enough, except that none of us our going to win. This tournament allows for the participation of all enrolled students freshman through seniors and randomly pairs them up against each other. The seniors are incredibly tough and usually dominate the competition, given how hard and how much they have trained, with the occasional upset from the junior class." Micheal says

"With that said, Athenox, our goal isn't to see who would win because that would be impossible. It is to see who can advance the furthest." Luke says to me.

That is fair since I nearly died going up against a senior not three weeks ago.

"Who made this roster?" Devin outbursts.

"What is wrong with it?"

"This!" Devin points at each of the spots where our names are and who we are going up against.

"This is crazy! Why is Luke the only one not going up against a senior? Actually, why are well all going up against a senior?" He is right.

Next to each of our names with the exception of Luke, we are all fighting seniors. Devin has to fight Eric, Micheal has to fight Connor, and even Mary has to fight Clara. I wonder why the randomizer keeps putting us up against other team members in the first place.

"Oh god! Athenox is dead and that is all that there is to it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well you and Luke are the only ones not fighting other team members, but Luke is fighting Justin. You on the other hand are fighting a senior student by the name of Jason Ainsworth. A self-trained golden child from the Holy Council who keeps switching his mage class every year and still passes. He just transferred to Saber class this year from Berserker and his physical strength is outrageous. It even makes Connor and Eric seem weak. He is in the running for his class's valedictorian seat, just to give you an idea of how well his performance is." Devin nervously explains.

"Well Athenox, if you want to forfeit the bet now… I would totally understand. It would be far less painful to declare me the winner now, then to have to declare me the winner when you're in the infirmary and on your death bed." Luke says with a partially joking and partially serious tone. Almost like he is actually concerned for my safety in the match.

"Oh please. Do you really think that you can take down Justin von Einzbern that easily? He very well might be the strongest in our freshman class. I wonder if I should be asking if you want to forfeit."

"Ok, if you are sure…" Luke's voice trails off with hesitation. How bad can he possibly be if they think that I am that ill-prepared to face him? It makes me very concerned for my own well being.

"Athenox. Luke. The division one matches are starting, so you guys are up first. Good luck and try not to get knocked out on the first swing." Devin says as we are called up to get taken to the arenas.

*For major tournaments at the academy, there is an announcer. In this tournament, the most popular and preferred announcer is commentating on the matches today. While Athenox is headed to his designated arena for the first round match. Scene 3.*

"Hello Avalon Academy!" The announcer says in a loud cheering voice that booms across the speaker system, and when I say loud cheering I mean loud cheering that sounds like an auto tuned air horn.

"This is your announcer and commentator, Mr. Junibru, or as a lot of you know me as the head Assassin teacher here at Avalon Academy. Who is ready for the great showdown of swordsman and swordswoman? Who is ready for some Blademaster?" He shouts as the cheer from the crowd escalates to match him.

As I step out onto the arena, I am surprised by how many people are here. It is just a normal school level competition but at least half of the arena is packed with a cheering crowd. The noise and the lights almost make it hard to focus, and I almost do not realize it when my opponent steps onto the arena.

"Alright! To start things off we have division one matches one and two. For match one we have Luke Matou, a freshman member of the Elite Combat Team and a wielder of the phantasm sword, Excalibur Galantine, and the phantasm shield, Divine Aegis. He hails from the Holy Council city of Justice Point as a member of the second family of the Holy Council. Give it up for Luke!" The crowd cheers for him loudly. He is a very popular perspective freshman after all. The majority are just taken away by the dazzling light he seems to just emit with him.

"And fighting against him is Justin von Einzbern, a member of the Elite Defense Forces and the wielder of his Ex-Ranked sword, Ea. Go Justin!" He cheers loudly.

It will definitely not be an easy fight for Luke. Wait, if he was announcing Luke's faction affiliation, then why didn't he announce Justin's? Does nobody care that he is from the second family of Undercity? That puts them both in equal access and opportunity growing up. The only difference being… Oh I get it now. The school is playing favorites with the crowd. They are hyping them up more for Luke because he is a Holy Council, and hyping Justin less because he is Undercity.

"And for match two, we have the one, the true, the all mighty senior, Jason Ainsworth!" The crowd loses their minds when he is called out.

"Wielder of the Divine Axe-Sword, and a skilled user of Berserker enhancements. He is able to merge those together to be able to withstand an incredible amount of damage before going down. Using his official records, we gauge that he will require at least twelve times the average amount of damage to render him incapacitated once he activates his Berserker enhancement."

Wait, did he just say that I am going to have to defeat him twelve times? I don't even know if that is fair or not. I know that I am a freshman and he is a senior, but if that is the case then this goes beyond four extra years of experience.

"And his opponent is Athenox Emiya. You have been hearing a lot about him lately. He is the irregular void mage that is also on the Elite Combat Team. A normal student turned perspective after an unregistered duel with Luke Matou who was the Elite Combat Teams number one perspective. He wields a unique phantasm sword, Dark Caliburn. His powers also seem to give him a knack for copying swords, along with some reminiscent counter magic, but will that be enough to match Jason Ainsworth?"

Is all of that really in the records? I will have to check after this. I don't recall that information being outside of Mrs.'s files that she shared with the upperclassmen on the team… who may have shared it with more people who asked about it. Well if they are good at one thing, then it is leaking information without the permission of the subject in question.

"Hey, are you that kid who has been in a coma for three weeks after a duel against Connor Kaminski?" Jason asks me.

"Yes, that would be me, and it was a sparring match." I sigh. Well at least they didn't think that I dropped out or died because that would be much worse.

"Hmm. I have seen Connor spar and sparred against him myself. I don't think that I have ever seen him go at it with enough force to break the limits of the arena, especially against a first year. He must have accidentally gone overboard. Let's hope I don't do the same." He says as he arcs his back and channels his enhancement.

His Mystic Code armor is a similar look and design to that of Devin's except that Jason's chest armor only consists of leather straps and his skirt is reinforced with metal studs, with bracers of the same material around his wrists. As he pulls out his weapon, I can notice that his skin seems to have been darkened and his magic circuits can be seen and have a misty red glow to match the beast-like aura, along with the fact that his muscles have increased in size to that of a tree trunk. His mana output has skyrocketed.

"Alright everyone, let's count down to the start of these two matches." The announcer, Mr. Junibru screams as the crowd roars in agreement.

"Three...!"

I look over at the nearest arena. Luke and Justin are in position. I hope that Luke knows what he is up against.

"Two..!"

I can't focus on their match, because I have my own problem to worry about. That problem would how I am supposed to land twelve knockouts on this guy.

"One! Start!"

As I look up at the overhead display board the image of his status bar with a times twelve next to it really drives the point home. By the time I look back at Jason, he is already a few meters away and closing in. He is fast and I don't have enough time to move out of the way. So I throw my sword under him as he reaches me and then I displace under him picking up the sword and catching a back swing from him. The amount of force he is applying is impossible to match, so I am pushed backwards. I empower my blade and leap off of his sword to give me clear distance from him and try to come up with a strategy. His blade, I need to know more about it. I won't be able to get anywhere without some understanding of it. Luckily, he is quick to close the distance and I am able to parry a few of his strikes before he slams his blade down and I have to evade it by moving to the left of it. I charge in on him in an attempt to land a strike but he releases the blade and grabs me with his hands. He then lifts me up and throws me back sending me sliding across the floor of the arena. I get back up and look at Jason. He hasn't yet started charging at me again. He is just standing there waiting. Maybe he already knows the outcome of this fight and he is trying to give me a chance to surrender without seriously getting myself hurt, no, without him seriously hurting me. It might be a safe or smart move to do so, but I don't want to. Even if I did want to, then it wouldn't be fair to Luke who is trying his hardest right now to defeat Justin in a match. This is a fight that has to be done. Whether we win or not is beside the point. Jason is fast and he can pretty much catch up to me even when I use displacement, so I won't be able to outrun him. Now that I have come into contact with more of his blade, then I can try and trace it. His stance is also of concern. He is physically strong enough to hold that giant weapon in one hand and attack with it. Close to how I wield and attack with Caliburn. Upon looking at his stance, the only differences are that Caliburn isn't a giant slab of crudely shaped stone and I don't have the physical body strength to be able to send people flying with it. However, there is something I am noticing. His sword's strikes are not placed very well at all, and they are very easy to predict once you notice them. It is like he is just aiming for my center mass and happens to get blocked by my sword. I haven't fought a great deal of berserker mages but I wouldn't expect such a major flaw in their attacks. My mom told me a little about Berserker mages growing up. She said that the majority of their power comes from the extremity of their emotions. While most people would just be more likely to attack when angry, Berserker mages receive a massive burst in power when they get angry in response to a spike in adrenaline. This makes them an unstoppable force in combat, and they are unable to unleash massive amounts of damage and destructive force while being able to withstand extreme amounts of damage to their bodies. She also told me a general rule for all berserker mages. That they all, no matter how skilled or how strong have one weakness. While they are enraged they are on a clock. The amount of mana that needs to be consumed to upkeep that level of enhancement is outrageous. Then there is also the fact that consuming that much mana will put a physical strain on the body and could start to cause deterioration. And finally there is also their minds, which can only handle the blackout rage for so long before shutting down for a while in the form of unconsciousness or sleep. It is essentially an overload of anger which makes their bodies burn out their mana supply in one big burst over the course of anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, or a full day in some extreme cases. My mom said that she was honestly glad when she found out that I was a Saber mage instead, because if I had turned out to be a Berserker mage like her then I would have to endure severe levels of mental torture in the form of post trauma, since you have almost no control of yourself while you are enraged and you only get the memories of what you have done in the form of subconscious flashes and dreams.

*While Athenox is trading hits with Jason in the arena, Mrs. is observing from the stands when she notices a large group of people in red hoods walk into the stands and take a section of seats. Scene 4.*

"Whatever this is, it is definitely a security threat." Mrs. thinks as she proceeds along the steps of the stands towards the large group of people in red hoods. She approaches the front row of hoods.

"I do not think that it is a good idea for you guys to be here." A hooded figure in the center of the front row stands up and summons a sword and slams it into the ground followed by a response.

"And why is that?" The figure says as she removes her hood.

"The Wrathful Mother!" Mrs. shouts as she pulls out Arondight and readies it for a strike.

"You didn't answer my question, Void Blade. Why can I not be here?" Athenox's mother, Mickey Bladedancer asks again. The two stare each other down.

I am trying to withstand a strike long enough to get information on it with my mana. As I am trying to push my entire body forwards and upwards to absorb the force of the sword, I get a sudden cold chill of fear. Like two titanic forces are about to tear each other apart. That feeling almost distracts me enough to lose focus and get slammed into the ground but I just barely manage to evade it.

"Because!" She hesitates as the stare down continues. Eventually Mickey loses her grip on the sword and it drops to the ground and shatters like it were made of glass. Mrs. sighs.

"Because a full war council from Enreagent is enough to turn a lot of heads." Mrs. says as she dismisses Arondight.

"But we all just care about Athenox so much, and we just had to see him compete and win in the Blademaster competition. Something we all would have liked to known sooner but couldn't because somebody got him put in a coma for three weeks" Athenox's mom pulls a folder full of files out and proceeds to throw them at Mrs., which causes papers to fly all around them.

"Did you think that I wouldn't be able to find out? I would have much preferred to find out from you directly." Mickey asks intently.

"Oh I had faith that you would start sticking your nose in his business and putting all of the puzzle pieces together, which is exactly why I didn't bother telling you." Mrs. Lanslac responds.

"So how is he doing so far in the tournament?"

"It is still his first match and he is going up against a senior Berserker mage who may be one of the strongest in the school. Given his enhancements ability to withstand twelve times the normal threshold of pain, so if Athenox wants to win then he is going to need to land twelve knockout hits before he goes down himself."

"A senior! Athenox is just a freshman. Why would that even be possible?" Mickey asks.

"Well, because this is an event that is not required by normal students, and it is entirely optional to enter for the extra credit to your grades and a potential boost to your class ranking. So they figured that it shouldn't be such a clear cut division of competition. However, the randomization system that we use for determining the match-ups seems to not be going easy on anyone today because Athenox isn't the only freshman getting pitted up against an upperclassmen. In fact, the rest of the Elite Combat Team's Saber mages who are competing are getting pitted against difficult opponents in the first round. It is so absurd that I almost wouldn't call it random anymore." Mrs. explains.

"That is strange. Would you like me to have someone look into it?" Athenox's mom replies.

"No, like I said before. Your presence would only ring alarms that do not need to be rung. Not to mention put a bigger spotlight over Athenox, and you of course do not want that, right Ms. Bladedancer?" Mrs. Lanslac says.

"I do suppose you are right."

"There is no need to worry. I will fix whatever problem there might be and keep your son safe, because he is a part of my team, and he is a student here in this place of protected learning. So just a word of advice for the next time that you decide to show up, please feel free to leave the rest of your council at home. If security is a concern of yours, then I can assign a senior team member to protect you." Mickey remains silent for a moment before speaking.

"Fine, I get it. For now I just want to see my son win this match. So if you could please stop blocking his view." Mrs. takes a seat among the section of red hoods, next to Ms. Bladedancer.

I think I have finally got a strategy to defeat him at least once, and if I can last any longer than I should be able to take him down a few more times. I figured out that he has very rigid sword movements that he is overcompensating for with his body's physical speed, but in order to do that he has shift his body mass into a swing which creates a delay in his attacks that is just big enough of an opening to land a clean strike. I think that I should be able to use that if I am careful and I time it right. It will just require me to time a fully empowered strike. I will have to disorient and confuse him enough for this to work. I catch his weapon on the guard of my blade and push back and slide under him and then throw my sword into the air. I then displace to it and look down within that moment and verify the floor space for my plan. I slam down behind and block his next swing. I throw Caliburn into the ground diagonally from me so that it lands right next to him. I block the strike as I displace and do it again, but this time I throw it to the left so I am back where I started. I keep repeating this pattern until Jason starts anticipating it and it becomes more difficult to block his strikes because he is changing the moment when he is swinging his body before his strike lands to instinctively adjust for it. Then without hesitation, I break the pattern and displace in the opposite direction of where I should have, and then displace again so that I am behind him, almost forming a box around him with the residual mana I used from displacing so much. I start to raise Caliburn for the strike, Jason drops his blade and kicks me back with his foot. Then he grabs his sword and manages to dive and catchup to me and slam me straight into the edge of the arena, and the force of that impact shatters the ground around me. I manage to prop myself up against the barrier wall. Jason prepares to launch a strike that will finish me off. I look over at the arena where Luke and Justin are fighting. Luke looks beat up and has blood stains over cracked sections of his armor, while Justin barely has a scratch. Luke just got disarmed and is being held up by Justin's chains. Well, at least he was able to last this long. To tell you the truth, I think Luke had a better shot of fighting him right now than I did. With me being so uncertain about my abilities I doubt I would have been able to develop an effective strategy against Justin. It sucks that we are both about to go down at the same time. It will bring us back to square one on our deal, and we will have to find an even more ridiculous way of solving it. Plus, to lose your first high school tournament so badly in the first round, some perspective student I turned out to be. If I am worth nothing than all of those that hate Mrs. for wasting her effort on me are right. If all of our members loose then it will make the team look bad and jeopardize the social standing of all of its members. That includes Miraldes, Adam, Alex, Devin, Macy, and all of the other freshman. They will spend the rest of their high school years being laughed off as weak mages who joined the wrong team and got punished as a result. The thought infuriates me. The thought of how unstable and fractured the upperclassmen have made the team for its new members infuriates me. I know I have only known them for a few months but I already feel so close to them. Like I would do anything for them, and yet in this moment as I am about to get knocked out by a raging Berserker mage, I feel helpless. My body starts heating up as I look at Jason and he starts to slam his sword down. I feel my magic circuits overload and I blackout before I feel the impact.

*In Athenox's bedroom, sometime after his fight with Jason Ainsworth. Scene 5.*

I start to open my eyes and sit up from my bed. I almost pass out again when I see all everyone in my room. They all turn to look at me. The looks on their faces range from mildly relieved to deeply concern.

"What? I lost, so there is no need to be concerned." I look at the clock on my nightstand to make sure it is the same day and I haven't been passed out for a month like last time.

"It has only been a few hours. That must be a new record or something." I say casually to try and disperse the tense looks off of people's faces.

"I can't believe that you were that reckless, Athenox?" Mrs. Lanslac says to me. What is she talking about?

"If he was going to charge at me like a mindless bull, then I figured I would spin him around and take him out from behind. It didn't even work sense he caught on, slammed me into the arena barrier and knocked my lights out." Their faces change from concern to shock when I tell them.

"I thought it was a clever strategy."

"Wait, you're telling me that you don't remember what happened?" Miraldes says. She is sitting in a chair on one of the sides of the bed.

"Does that mean it was a Berserk enhancement?" Jane says sitting in a chair next to her.

Now that I look, they must have pulled chairs in from the living room and the other bedrooms because I don't remember owning this many chairs. That isn't the point though. What does she mean Berserker enhancement?

"Could that even be possible since Berserker isn't his primary class?" Devin asks standing up next to Miraldes.

"I think we may need to clarify what happened to our frequently comatose patient over there." Sarah says.

"Hey that is a little rude don't you think? Just because it is one-hundred percent true doesn't mean we have to make fun of him for it." Devin says in a sarcastic tone.

"Thanks for the support Devin." I reply in a similar tone.

"No problem!" He states with a cheeky smile. Proud of his ability to poke fun at my expense.

"To cut to the chase." Mrs. urges the room to quiet down by clearing her throat loudly. She hands me a data tablet.

"The match didn't quite end when you think it did, and you didn't stop moving after that point either." Mrs. explains.

"How could that be? I was immobilized after he slammed me into the barrier and must have blacked out from exhaustion right when he was slamming his sword down for the final strike."

"That strike didn't connect though. You got up and evaded it last second." My mom says from the side of the bed sitting next to Mrs.

"Look at that tablet, it shows your mana quantities and output levels. There is a major discrepancy right around the time when you said that you blacked out. You started to put out more mana than you physically had." I stare at the chart for a second.

"My body would have started to break down from mana drain and I would be in far worse condition, so why aren't I?" I ask.

"Well a spike of this magnitude would indicate something to the effect of a Berserker enhancement, but that isn't the case. You didn't show any of the real signs of it and it would have shown itself much earlier in your high school career even if it was tied to you being a void mage. Your actions after that point don't reflect it either. You didn't become any less precise in your attacks or strategy. In fact it would appear quite the opposite. You got faster with your weapon summoning and more effective. Even performing moves I don't think that I have ever seen from you before. Your reaction time become near instant and you hardly ever hesitated in your attacks. The most impressive part is that you managed to land six of the twelve knockouts required to take Jason down, which is a feat that most of the seniors wouldn't have been able to do, let alone a freshman." Mrs. Lanslac explains the next weird irregularity that I am going to have to deal with.

"It was really freaky when you started glowing though." Alex says.

"Yes, specifically your magic circuits. Which that and the way that you said that you had blacked out lead me to a conclusion about what it might me." Mrs. says to me.

"So what is it?"

"Well among the many test I have ran on you, I scanned your body and traced the extremities in mana readings, which would be where your magic circuits are. It seems that the reason that you have as big of a mana pool as you do is because you have a set of magic circuits extending where most mages wouldn't because of how dangerous and inefficient it could be. In your nervous system. This also explains why you seem to pass out more whenever you use up all of your mana, because you have shocked your nerves. I think that you probably flooded your whole nervous system with mana, similar to how a mage can overload their weapon."

"But wouldn't that just make me a walking mana bomb, especially with void."

"Yeah, why did his combat performance suddenly increase like that?" Jane asks.

"I would expect that when he performed this, he blacked out as a result and his body was unable to receive instructions from his conscious brain. Athenox's body would have instead had to be taking instructions directly from the source of the mana, which is his soul. It would have had to take a serious amount of force to generate that kind of action because flooding your magic circuits is normally not a possible or easy task. It would require an emotional upset big enough to cause the necessary flow of mana to occur, similar to a Berserker enhancement. Which brings me to my only question. Athenox, what do you think caused you to Overload?" She, along with the rest of the room look at me.

I was about to be defeated and I looked over and saw Luke in a similar position. That constricting feeling of hopelessness represented by Justin's chains and Jason's towering presence. The same hopelessness that the upperclassmen carry around with them because of their conflicted feeling between them. The feeling that if they were my friends, then I would do anything I could to in order to save them. Even if that meant getting up from getting knocked across an arena to try and defeat Jason. If that feeling of seeing someone who is my teammate and maybe even my friend in danger causes my magic circuits to erupt, then I must care more than I thought. Which reminds me that Luke lost the match against Justin. If he is a light magic user like Mary then he is probably in pretty bad shape after that fight.

"Where is Luke?" I say as I get up from my bed.

"He is in the infirmary, but it I don't think it is good for you to be getting up so soon after what you did in your fight. We still do not know what all of the effects are." Mrs. proclaims.

"I am fine. I am more concerned about Luke. He fought against Justin today and lost, so he is probably in worse shape than I am. Jane…" I look at her.

"You know what he is capable of, especially against light magic users." Mary lowers her head in anger from her spot in the room.

"Mrs. Lanslac, Athenox is right. I do remember what he has done in the old days. You need to let him see Luke. If anyone knows how to deal with it the best, then it is my son, Athenox, the person who has fought him the most." Mom says to Mrs.

"Very well then. But Jane, if you could please walk with him and observe him to make sure that he doesn't have any after effects from his overloading. If I remember correctly, you had originally come her to ask Athenox more questions about his abilities. For the marketing team's report of course." Mrs. asks Jane with a partial smirk on her face. She must have been trying to ask me for a while, but I was too busy being in a coma to accept.

"M-m-me?" Jane asks as her face turns bright red. She must be embarrassed about the whole situation.

If what I they told me about the report is true, then it needed to be done earlier so that they have time to review and edit it in order to start the final draft, but without every team member's information they can't even get started on it. Sarah told me once that Aubrey likes to have the final draft started before the Castmaster tournament so that they can pace the progress to give them a break to prepare for the tournament, and that if they have to they will be called in a week early from winter break to get it to that point.

"Um. S-s-sure I can?" She stands up.

*Athenox and Jane are walking down the hallway leading up to the infirmary. Scene 6.*

"So Jane, you had wanted to ask me questions about my magic?" Her face is red. She is still nervous. I feel bad. I will answer anything she asks because I don't want to mess up her winter holiday break. She is silent for a second before she starts to talk.

"So you are a Void Saber mage right?"

Pretty obvious question to start with but I guess it is the most important thing to base the rest of my information on.

"Yes, at least that's what I have gathered."

"Your swordsmanship is amazing. Where or who did you learn it from?"

"My parents."

"And they are?"

"That is a much longer story that I am surprised you don't already know the basic answer for."

"What is the limit of your magic detection?"

"I don't know. I haven't tested it yet."

"Is it effected by those glasses that you made from that corrupted spirit that you fought on your first gathering mission?"

"I can't tell a difference."

"Then why did you still have them in your room?"

"I thought they looked kind of cool, but it is kind of irritating to see through purple-colored tint. That also seems like a really specific question to include in a report."

"Can you use your magic detection in part with your void magic to copy and counter opponent's phantasm weapons and spells?" Jane's barrage of questions continue.

"As far as I know, yes."

"So you are from Undercity right?"

"Yes."

"How many corrupted spirits did you kill there?"

"A lot. Mostly just oncoming swarms of wraiths that would try to attack the streets on occasion, but a few times I would go on a hunt for major corrupted spirits."

"And how many people?"

"That is a horrible thing to assume about me just because I am from Undercity. What is with you people? To answer your question though, I have lost count." I say with moderate irritation.

I don't really know if that belongs in a report for a upcoming tournament but I guess no one is going to be able to prosecute me for it because of the circumstances surrounding it and I guess it would be helpful to start being honest with my teammates. Given that we will have to work together to prepare for the Grail War next semester. And aside from Mrs. and the upperclassmen who know through my records, and Justin who knows because he lived in Undercity, she is the first person at this school that I have told. Her facial expression isn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. Usually a look of terror and disgust is what I get when I tell people that.

"Were you any good at it? Dispatching people, I mean?"

"To cut a long story short. I was a different person then, but yes, I had to be. I wouldn't have lasted as long otherwise." That is a slight exaggeration but in a few instances it really wasn't.

"Your body isn't the most muscular and you seem to get thrown around a lot in a fight."

"That wasn't really a question. More of a statement of fact."

"So how do you manage to contest against opponents who are physically stronger, like Luke?"

"It has always been a problem. Strategy is typically the best option, along with having more mana than most of my opponents. I could withstand Luke's empowered strike by having mana pumping into my hands and powering my gloves. It is part of my counter magic training."

"Counter magic? Does that mean you can dispel other mages?" Jane stops to turn and look at me as we stand right outside Luke's room in the infirmary. She has a gleam of excitement in her eye.

"It means I can figure out a way around an enemy's magecraft." I explain.

"S-so, Athenox! Y-you do know what Castmaster is right?" Her voice is back to being nervous again.

"The Castmaster tournament is coming up after winter break." Jane says.

Oh no. She is worried about the report for the marketing team. She is afraid that she will have to come in over winter break because of Aubrey's cruel, cold, and ruthless work routines and merciless deadlines.

"Yeah I know. I am sorry, and because I was in a coma I couldn't…."

"Can you be my servant partner for Castmaster?" Jane interrupts my sentence.

"Wait, what?" My racing thoughts of fear for Jane and the other freshman's free time come crashing to a stop.

"Well for a Caster mage to compete in Castmaster, they need to make an agreement with another mage for support. They form two person teams. I have been looking at other mages for a while, but after I heard that you managed to dispel a corrupted spirit, I was more certain that I needed to pick you. Your void and counter magic will make you a devastating weapon in this tournament. I also heard your name going around the Caster forums and dormitory for top potential servant partner picks among the freshman. I asked Mrs. Lanslac if I could get to you first so that no one else would have a chance to ask you. So, what do you say? Will you partner with me?"

That part where she said that she wanted to use me as a weapon seems a little degrading and impersonal but I am not unfamiliar with being used in such a way. My issue though is that in this competition just like the rest of the competitions will be dominated by the upperclassmen just like Blademaster was. It is going to be a bloodbath for the freshman class.

"Did I forget to mention that by competing in the tournament with me you also get extra credit and money? Plus, as long as we are working together I will help you sort out and plan your magecraft. I am kind of an expert at consistent spellcasting."

She really knows how to make a convincing argument and she is probably one of the most skilled Caster mages in the freshman class, if not then one of the top in the whole school. As is expected from the leading family of the Holy Council, the Tohsakas. If anyone could help me get my magic straight, then it would probably be her. I think I am one more weird irregularity away from completely losing track myself. Not to mention that the money I can make from entering can go towards paying my admission fees for the school so dad can stop working as hard.

"I'm in." I agree to help her.

"And I am glad to hear that. For now just keep up your normal training with your class work and we will start training together after the break." She smiles and we both walk into Luke's room together so that I can fix the damage he received from Justin von Einzbern.

*End of Episode 10.*


	11. Chapter 11-12

Fate/Academy: Episode 11/12

*Athenox and Connor in the Elite Combat Team's storage shed behind the organization building. It is after school. Scene 1.*

"Hey Connor! It is really hard to believe that you guys keep all of this stuff in here."

"Oh yeah? Well most of it is leftover materials from past seasons. This shed is constantly circulating mana through here for preservation, so none of it ever really dissolves which is good for keeping things intact but it can also be dangerously unstable and cause things to reanimate. It is why we have to use our mystic code armor in here. I once heard a rumor that a corrupted spirit revived itself in this shed and the team spent the majority of a day trying to destroy it and clean up afterwards so that Mrs. never found out. We have used quite a wide variety of essences and scrap weapons and armor that we take off of corrupted spirits. We even had to make our fortress aircraft submersible for an underwater challenge three years ago, so we had to plate the entire exterior with Leviathan scales to withstand that level of water pressurization. It was tedious as could be, but worth it in the end because that was the year we won and first gained our elite title." Connor responds back to me.

Mrs. said that she was unsure of my abilities in their current state and didn't want to risk anything. That meant that I was not allowed to go on the Team field trip to the Holy Council's mana power plant in Avalon City. I also know that this is because I am from Undercity and the Holy Council takes it upon themselves to shove their own personal interests into Avalon City, just as all of the other factions have. It makes sense considering Avalon City was founded by the agreement of all of the other factions after the first Great Mage War that happened so long ago. The corruption that they had all but forgotten about since the founding had seeped its way back into the minds of helpless victims and then spread like wildfire. The factions began disagreeing with each other on whose fault it was and what to do about it. Even to the point of violent battles. That Holy Council of the past was the faction who finally came to their senses and helped everyone remember why they had learned magecraft to fight in the first place and that was to stop the corruption. Once everyone came to remember, they combined forces and repelled the corruption back far enough to make them dormant again. As a reminder they used their combined forces to clear out and build a city that would serve as a beacon of unity and remembrance that they were given their power to stand against the corruption and not each other. All of the factions have similar outposts in Avalon because it is the leading source of pure mana, which is the most efficient magical energy source in the world. Usable in supplement to any mana generated by a human and able to be used more continuously. It will sting on contact though due to its pure balance of every affinity's magic. It is like getting hit by every other type of magic attack at once except your own. Undercity however, no longer has any outposts or refining stations in Avalon City. The Holy Council along with all of the other factions hate Undercity because of events in later wars and refuses to acknowledge their existence. Going so far as to kick them out of the World Council. This hatred has yet to go away. So I am unable to go on the field trip. Apparently there was going to be a lot of ceremonial duels and a celebratory banquet. Connor decided not to go as well. I don't really know why. I really have to wonder if it is because he still feels sorry about our sparring match, as if that three weeks I was knocked out would have been enough preparation for me to have been evenly matched against Jason. Since he saw me land six out of the twelve knockouts, it is possible for him to think that if I had more training then I wouldn't have overloaded my body in the first place. I need to make sure.

"Connor, don't you think that it is a little weird that it is just us two cleaning out the shed. Don't you think it is a little bit too much for Mrs. to ask of us? I would have thought that for an area of this magnitude, you would want somewhere around four or five people, especially since combat could spontaneously break out against anything in here."

"Yeah that is true but you do remember how Mrs. is going to compensate us for this mission. Do you really want to have to split that reward with more people?"

"You are right. That isn't something that you pass up, even if it means running a two man team into such a dangerous place as this."

"Plus we are the only ones who aren't either on the field trip or sick in their dormitories."

He is right yet again. Adam, Macy, and Zachery Blackmore who is Corey's younger brother have all called in sick today. Some really aggressive virus must be going around. Thank goodness that none of the teachers today asked me to bring their homework by for them, because I wouldn't want to take the risk of getting sick from them. I have already missed enough days from my mess-ups with my void mana as it is.

"Well, you aren't sick. So why didn't you want to go on the field trip with everyone else?" I am learning more and more that being straightforward always seems to be the better option for getting information.

"Hmm…Well you see…"

Connor is hesitating?

I have never heard him like this. He is usually always very certain in his words. And I would know because since I got my void abilities, I have been the king of hesitation. I am usually always overthinking my words and actions, so I know what it looks and sounds like. Connor pauses thinking of how to respond. It must be because of me right?

"You could have gone with them Connor. You really didn't have to stay here and feel sorry for me because you didn't go easy on me in training for Blademaster."

"Do I look like the pitying type to you?"

"No, I guess not."

"I had my own reason for not going and trust me when I say that it wasn't because I knocked you in to the ground with extra force. If anything I think it knocked a few magic circuits into the right places." He says as he laughs.

"Consider it a gift, because I don't go anywhere near full force against anyone I don't respect enough. Between the two of us, I think that you are one of my favorite freshmen team members."

Oh yeah, because totally destroying someone is a great way to show someone that they are your favorite. Also, picking favorites on a team is once again, a mistake that can only end badly. This comes from personal experience.

"Tell you what. Why don't we hurry up and get done here so we can claim the reward together."

"That sounds great."

*Athenox and Connor are sitting on the first floor of the Rider Dormitory in the Rider's Pizzeria. The two are sitting across from each other at a table. It is now in the evening just before sunset, so approximately six or seven at night. Scene 2.*

"Hey, is that…?"

"The up and coming Blademaster? Yeah I think you are right. It is"

"I still can't believe how strong that guy is."

"He really dished out a beating to Jason Ainsworth." Whispered voices come from all around the restaurant.

"Hey Connor, I think that they are all talking about you."

"What? No, they are talking about you."

"Why me? I didn't do anything really impressive except for when my body slammed into the arena wall and leave a really big impression from the force of impact. Didn't you defeat Jason and get to the division finals?"

"I am not sure you have that part quite right. Yes, I did through to the final match of the division but not by beating him. The von Einzbern kid that beat Luke was the one who had to take Jason down. His chains and projectile swords proved too much even for Jason's titanic strength."

He is right about that. Brute strength alone isn't effective against Justin.

"Then why are they calling me the Blademaster?"

"If I had to guess, then I would say that it is because of your performance against Jason. You are probably one of only few students who could even get that close to completely knocking him out in a fight. What is more impressive is that you were able to accomplish that feat in just your freshman year. I myself have gone up against Jason before and could not get more than four knockouts on him. The same argument cannot be made for your arch rival von Einzbern because even though he did defeat him, he did not display the same level of sword mastery or technique that you did. And only winning in a competition called Blademaster because of magecraft that borders being defined as what the rules establish to be "low level magecraft" is hardly the same example of a mastered sword technique like yours."

So apparently when I overloaded, I managed to get two more knockouts than Connor. I don't even understand what Overloading does and yet still it must be pretty extraordinary to be able to contest mages who are far more advanced than myself.

"Special order for Athenox Emiya and Connor Kaminski from Mrs. Lanslac." A waiter approaches our table and takes two whole pizzas off of his tray and then places them in front of us.

"Enjoy!" He walks off. My mind goes blank as the invasive aroma of the fresh pizza lunges full force into my nostrils.

"Yeah, Mrs. has some pretty powerful authority in this school in order to get a reward this good made on demand."

"I agree. This is not a reward that you pass up, no matter what the mission is. I was skeptical that anyone in Avalon City would have these quality of ingredients. Let alone that they would use them in such a manner."

My mind struggles to form a real sentence as I examine the beautiful arrangement of ingredients on the table before us. A pizza crafted entirely of Rank A ingredients. Everything from the dough, the cheese, the sauce, and the toppings which in my case are pineapples and ham. The quality on crafted items of food is determined by the quality or power of the corrupted spirit or the locations density of magic power in the case of plants and vegetation. This scale only applies to items from outside the territory walls as anything made by hand or processed through enhancement inside the walls is bland and lacks substance. Many companies try to sell heavily enhanced foods as supplements to the high quality stuff you can only get by hunting it down in the corrupted zone, but they lack the same level of substance and do a minimal job of helping you regenerate your mana. To put it in a clearer perspective, on the commonly used Rank EX through E scale, most widely available processed food and items are barely registered as Rank E, while for a steep premium, a private hunter or company will only find it to be worth the risk of gathering Rank B items for sale. So with this being the second best quality of item in existence and only first to the rarest Rank EX. That being said, this delicious pizza alone could restore the mana pool of an average mage who has about a third to a half of my own, in about 8 hours.

"Hey, are you going to eat it or just stare at it all night?" Connor shakes me back into reality.

"Yeah, I was just admiring it."

"Be honest with me, Athenox, Rank EX detection, who seems to have a certain affinity and experience for gathered and crafted items from the corrupted zone and who was an Undercity war prince who confiscated such contraband from opposing Undercity factions. You were scanning the magic quality and structure of it weren't you?"

If he knows that much then I just hope he doesn't know about THAT particular operation.

"I guess that you caught me Connor. I haven't ever actively tried it on made food, but I have tried it on ingredients."

I grab a slice of my pizza and start eating. The flavor of the pizza is better than I remember it to be from the last time I had it a few years back.

"I honestly do not know if I would define what you got from inside Mr.'s reality marble as "ingredients" or not. However, your set of abilities seems to have once again proved to be better than the challenge set in front of you. I know that now may not be the time to get all sentimental and emotional but I have a lot of confidence in the freshman class this year. The members of your class seem to have a lot more potential than we did when we joined this team. I wouldn't want to sound too sure but I think that if the Team does win The Grail War this year, it will be because of the hard work that you guys have and are going to continue to put in."

As I down my second piece, I can't help but appreciate the level of sentiment in his voice. Even though we are just a month away from the end of the first semester and winter break, he thinks so highly of us. It feels like he just meant us not that long ago and you could already tell that he wouldn't hesitate to help us out in any way that he could. I am probably not someone who should be making these observations but if I had to say, then I would say that he is most likely a good person in every sense of the word. It is an outlandish claim to ever make about anyone but it just seems to match Connor. I can always sense the aura that comes from his mana, and it bears none of the negative emotions that you would expect a person to have in combat. He isn't driven by anger, hate, or sorrow like a great deal of other mages that I have seen.

"What is that?" Connor stands up from the table as a loud crashing roar emits from outside.

Immediately, Connor and I rush outside to the courtyard of the Rider dormitory. The roar is coming from on top of the school. The sky turns into a pitch black nightmare. Through the darkness, flames can be seen erupting from the Caster dormitory with more flames emerging from behind the school building. A large corrupted spirit flies into view as it circles and swipes away at the building.

"How did a corrupted spirit get this far into Avalon City? Wouldn't the magic defense systems prevent them entirely?"

The spirit's shape is long with wings, legs, and a tail. Its specific details are hard to depict because its body is shrouded in thick smoke-like darkness. The magic aura is emitting is massive and imposing. It must have more mana than a company of fifty mages. There are only a few mages that I know that even come close to that amount of power.

"That means that something must have happened to the school's magic core. And if that is the case then…" He gets cut off by the sounds of shouting and loud explosions.

"A Gungnir blast? We need to hurry. If we don't do something fast then everyone here is going to become infected and inevitably succumb to the corruption. From those noises I can already tell that those with lesser resistance and willpower are falling faster and faster and it is only a matter of time before most of the students and faculty become corrupted." A blast from inside the school opens up a hole on the outermost wall of the school building.

"I will go to the top of the school and see if I can hold off that dragon, at least until the school is back to normal and the defense systems come back online or Mrs. and the rest of the team get back from the field trip. Athenox, do you think that you can get down to the school's magic core on the fourth sublevel and see what is wrong with it?" He seems to have been able to figure out the type of spirit beast just by looking at it like he has past experience with dragons or something.

"Yes I will."

"Okay, you are going to need to deploy your mystic code. The students aren't in their right mind to hold back. You are going to need to try and evade and run by as many students as you can to conserve your mana. If one of them gives you too much trouble then you should quickly incapacitate them, and only incapacitate them. This shouldn't be too difficult for you because of your gloves and your counter magic. Keep in mind that they aren't fully corrupted and transformed into a wraith spirit, and they are still in a state where they can be saved. Once you figure out what's wrong with the magic core, then you should report back to me so that you can assist me in trying to take down this dragon and that will be when you will need all of your mana." Connor instructs me.

I didn't expect him to be so prepared against a corrupted spirit attack. He is reacting to all of the known variables of the attack and using everything that he currently has at his disposal. It never crossed my mind that an attack would have even been possible in the middle of Avalon City. As a neutral territory and city for all of the factions, they have possibly the strongest mana powered repulsion systems in existence. I wonder if Connor or Mrs. might have had any kind of suspicion that this attack might occur.

"Got it."

"Oh and one last thing I should mention before you go. The power in the elevators have most likely shut down, so you will need to use the staircase spiraling along the outer wall of the school."

"I understand." I run through the newly made entrance into the building so I can get to the staircase.

*Athenox is running down the stairs to get to the magic core. Currently on Sublevel 1 which is where the student's organizations buildings are. Scene 3.*

The design of the school building is grand, massive, and practical. The large ramp like staircases that run in a spiral pattern along the perimeter of the school however are not practical and were probably nothing more than an afterthought from an older design of the school. Considering going up or down each floor is like running around the school one time and running downwards is even worse since you have to pace yourself or you will trip and fall miserably down the stairs. Connor said that I should conserve my mana but I can't do that. I have to keep a steady burn for an enhancement spell on my lungs so that I don't run out of breath and I have to keep another one active on my legs so that I don't tire out from running. On top of that, I have to empower my gloves anytime a student under the effects of the corruption decides to place themselves in front of me or launch an attack at me. I nearly miss a Lancer mage's strike by sliding under it, and immediately pull the spear forward, which sends his head into my fists. I do this without slowing down so the force of my punch isn't minimized. I have to keep moving. Detection on the move like this isn't desirable because you have limited time to assess something front of you. You would think that the constant turning motion to the right would be a little dizzying at this speed, but at any one point of the stairs it is a gradual enough turn that you won't find yourself grazing against the outer wall of windows. Up ahead in the path just by the entrance into the first sublevel, is a barricade of sword wielding Saber mages, with a rear line of Archer mages behind them. I would count around twenty of them in total. The wall is the entire width of the stairs, so there isn't going to be any real way of sidestepping them like Connor would want me to. I will have to clear a path through them. Even if I were to jump over the wall, then I would have to deal with full on barrage from the Archers. I slide to a stop just about 15 meters in front of the barricade. I will have to find the weak point in the wall to break through. The Archers all seem to be about the same in terms of power and phantasm weapon. The Sabers seem to be less organized. Their phantasm weapons are all skewed from one another in terms of uniqueness and quality. About three of them are using generic Excalibur variant swords at relatively low ranks. Four more are using blades that look incredibly similar to Connor's blade, Balmung at much higher ranks of power. The last three appear to be curved blades similar to Alex's phantasm in sword form with a power level somewhere between the other two styles of phantasm weapons. They are oriented in a pretty even distribution of power. The only thing that concerns me about this is that an organized formation like this would be nearly impossible for a group of students undergoing the effects of corruption to perform. The archers from the rear line notice me and start to open fire. This lessens the amount of time I have to make a decision. I keep evaluating the swordsmen as I pull out Caliburn and dispatch the arrows. Not to mention that the noise coming from their fire is drawing more students from behind me. The pattern has to mean something. The obvious weak points would be where the Sabers are using Excalibur. The Balmung users are on the center and the outer edge eliminate three points in the barricade and that leaves two massive gaps of weaker Sabers to punch through. A zone to the left or a zone to the right. It won't make much difference if this was coincidental and I will have wasted the time and effort in thinking about it. However, if this was a planned obstacle then honestly I will have still wasted my time because there would be no point in setting up a trap like this for someone to just bypass it so easily. Then that means that it doesn't really matter which gap I break through on. I rush in towards the left side and the Sabers start to swing as I get in close. At this moment it is probably beneficial to recall upon my counter magic training. It is more than just emitting mana though my gloves and minimizing the effect of an opponent's spell. It is in fact a method of operation and attack strategy that goes against the procedures of traditional magecraft. For example, the well trained Saber mage using Excalibur in front of me is slamming his sword down in a predictable two handed stance. The force of the strike would be damaging without question but it isn't foolproof because of the interval of time required to recover and launch a follow up attack. In that time, I can grab the blade with my right hand and send my left hand fist first into one of his wrists and temporarily shutting down the mana flow to his hands. I catch another sword on my forearm. The stance is the same as the first which is his fatal flaw. The stance requires you take advantage of your bodies full force to try and overpower in these shoving contests. As a result the shifting of my right arm as I propel my fist into his chest and knock him off of balance which causes him to rush forward into the punch before it even connects, which puts him on the floor. I preemptively evade and then dispatch the wielder of that curved blade before I fall prey to the weapon's speed. The line of Archers have stopped firing while I am this close to them, but I am unsure if they will resume to fire upon me once I am at decent range again. I will have to go through the lengthy process of taking them down one by one but I really don't have that kind of time.

"I would get down if I were you." A voice says from the shadows up ahead of the barricade.

I dive down as beams of light shoot the entire line of students down.

"Well Athenox, I would say that you owe me one but I do not think that was necessary since I was going to do that anyway."

As I get up I see the owner of that voice, Justin von Einzbern. He seems to be unaffected by the corruption, but then again if you knew him then you would know that there isn't much of a soul there to corrupt.

"Were you the one who set up this barricade?"

"Oh come on, Athenox. You should know me better than that. It wouldn't be any fun if they were all just standing in a line." Justin replies back.

"It is a little suspicious considering you don't seem to be affected by the corruption that started infecting students when a corrupted spirit showed up and when something probably happened to the schools magic core."

"Well you don't seem to be infected either." Justin says.

"I noticed that but I just figured that it was only a matter of time." I say back to him.

"So you would have spent your last sane moments trying to save this school?" He asks me.

"If it came down to it then I guess that is about right. Wait… aren't you on the Elite Defense Forces? Wouldn't that make it your job to try and save the school? I mean after all "Defense" is in the title."

"Yeah sure I thought about it, but the rest of my team isn't in a position to know that I am not infected and it is not like I can tell them right now anyway. Besides, I would miss the perfect opportunity to prove my strength by besting all of these low life mongrels who call themselves mages. Plus, I know that you are on your way to take care of whatever the problem is. Why drop two bombs on the same house." His choice of metaphor and sinister tone sends a chill down my spine.

"Before you go, I just want to propose one hypothesis as to why you and I aren't infected from this corruption."

"Yeah and that might be?" He approaches me and looks me dead in the eye before he starts to speak.

"What if the reason that you and I aren't infected by the corruption is because of the fact that you can't corrupt that which has already been corrupted?" He lets out a maniacal laugh.

I ignore his statement and keep on running. It sickens me to even remember my past and then consider that a possibility. As I keep running I hear the sound of Justin's phantasm weapon before it fades amongst the sounds of other explosions happening all over the school. I wasted too much time because of that barricade. I am just going to have to try and push through without hesitation if anymore show up. I imagine Connor is exhausting himself by keeping that dragon from destroying the school. It is already going to take time to get to the fourth subfloor where the magic core is. I keep on running without slowing down.

*Connor is on the roof of the school building, and he is squaring off against the massive corrupted spirit dragon. Scene 4.*

"The age of man is plague on this land that I shall seek to eradicate." The massive dragon bellows from overhead. The dragon continues. It dives down straight for Connor.

"Certainly you wouldn't wish to betray your own kind." Connor rolls out of the way and deflects the talons of the dragon with his sword.

"My own kind? Last time I checked, I was not a scaled monstrosity hell bent on the destruction of the human species." Connor replies.

The dragon is quick to circle back around and spew out a vile black shadowy flame.

"You think that I do not know what you are. The hero who gave up a human mortal life to bath in the blood of the dragons." The dragons roar seems to decipher itself into spoken language in Connor's ear, almost like a whisper. Connor takes the sweeping flame head on and covers his face with his arms as searing fire washes over him.

"Oh please! Those dreams are meaningless nonsense from my weapon when it wants to tell me how to use it. There isn't any historical evidence to prove that any of it actually happened."

He attempts to make a jumping strike at the dragon, but the dragon swipes a talon at his chest, but Connor catches it with one arm and empowers his sword, which propels his blade straight across the dragon's chest. However, the sword is unable to pierce the thick shadow that encases his body like armor. The glowing aura of the blade seems to be reduced to the mere glint of the steel.

"I pity you because every day you wake up and know exactly how you are going to die, and yet there will be nothing that you can do to stop it." The dragon says as he sinks his talons into Connor's abdomen and slams him into the ground. After prying through the mystic code armor, blood starts to spray out from the wounds. The dragon then hovers Connor a meter or two above the ground and starts to fan its wings, which brings a massive wind gust down on Connor and the roof of the building. The wind gusts sends Connor flying back into the ground as the sharp talons tear their way out of his middle section.

*Athenox is stopped by another barrier on the third sublevel. Scene 5.*

This barrier is probably far worse than the other one. It simply consists of fifteen Caster mages with an unknown array of abilities and a lot of power. The phantasm weapons that they carry are a wide array of items from which magic could be casted from like a conduit. If I had a blade that I could use to siphon their energy and project it back at them like a blast then I wouldn't have to waste my own mana supply. Mrs.'s weapon, Arondight has that ability but I can barely manage to summon it as is, let alone with enough structural integrity to activate one of its abilities or use a fully empowered strike. It would probably just explode or shatter in my hands.

"Caliburn, Dark Sword of Determination!"

I call out the full name of the weapon so as to summon the blade with the highest quality that I can achieve. I am taking a risk here because of the fact that the casters will start opening fire at 15 meters, but I need to be at least 10 meters away for Caliburn's strike to hit them. I try my best to maneuver my way through the full barrage of elemental projectiles. Fire, light, shadow, earth, water, air, and nature are all fired in force. I do my best to deflect as much of the deadly torrent as I can but am still shredded as I try to rush forward to lessen the distance between us and empower Caliburn. My mystic code armor seems to be taking most of the burns and cuts as I raise my sword and send a blast wave of dark energy crashing into the wall of casters. As I run past the entrance to the third sublevel, I am crippled by the sudden sensation of sharp burning in my legs, and then I drop to my knees as I desperately attempt to gasp for air. I haven't been careful enough and have exhausted my body and the enhancements that I have put on it. I am lucky that this didn't happen earlier when I was trying to get past those barricades. Even though I am unable to move my legs through the exertion, I don't have time to waste. My best option is to dismiss Caliburn and my Mystic code in order to maintain enough mana to keep my legs and lungs from giving out entirely. This is a reckless move because I will be defenseless if there is another barricade of corrupted students up ahead. This really isn't even an option compared to watching the whole school get destroyed along with all of the students inside. I deactivate them and keep running.

*Athenox reaches the School's magic core. Scene 6.*

I reach the room with where the magic core is. The room is shaped like a large seven sided figure with seven pillars forming a similar pattern around the room. The walls seem to be dark and the air seems to be damp from the underground pressure.

"Drop dead, you corrupted whelp."

One of three figures voice's echoes across as an arc of lightning zaps across the room forcing me to take cover behind the nearest pillar.

"I'm not corrupted." I shout back to try and correct him.

"Oh, so now you are a coward and a liar. I would expect nothing less from a lowly corrupted spirit taking refuge in a human vessel. Why don't you come out and fight me?"

I couldn't even if I wanted to. I don't have the mana left to face him after running down here and with the situation as it is, I would easily get tossed around.

"You can hide from me but luckily for me I am not alone." The voice says as another figure comes out from the shadows of the room and lunges straight for me from my position behind the pillar. I do my best to evade it but a dagger pierces through my arm. Even as my vision blurs from pain, I can identify the figure.

"Macy, why?"

I look in her eyes and notice the traces of yellow in them. They are corrupted. She appears to be in more advanced stage then all of the other students that I have seen so far. They are not acting quite it. Usually for most, your speech and actions start to become more sporadic and unpredictable. They are communicating and coordinating like normal people. This must be the corruption in full force. Maybe that is why the First Mage War was so difficult to fight in. Because it became nearly impossible to tell who was or wasn't infected and panic and fear would cause people to make false accusations. Macy continues her lunge and I am dragged off of my feet. The dagger went right through me and my arm got caught on the chain. She dashes around the cavern before diving straight into the center of the room. As my arm starts to go numb, I try to force my hand shut around the chain and pull back. As she is thrown behind me, we are sent to a violent stop which causes the chain to grind and tear more of my arms flesh even scraping along the bone. A wave of pain strains my nerves. A large section of the chain is coated in my blood. From behind me, the first shadowy figure slams down with his hammer. It is Zachery Blackmore, a Berserker mage from our second group.

"All-Crushing Hammer of Thunder!"

I slide out of the way and the hammer strikes down on the chain wrapped around my arm coming from Macy's dagger. The chain snaps, but a surge of electricity flies down the chain and singes my nerves. The chain is nearly welded around my arm. My body goes numb. I am paralyzed but this time it feels worse. My body aches without even being able to move and shake off the pain. I lie there on the ground and try to move any part of my body, but the amount of effort makes my stomach churn.

"You won't evade my attack again." Zach says as he readies his hammer for another swing.

The light in the room starts to fade out and spin as I start to lose consciousness. At least I won't be able to see myself die, because his swing will most likely shatter me on contact.

"Athenox! Athenox! Can you hear me?" A voice echoes across my head. I try to open my eyes

"Who is this? And also, what is this?"

"This is Aubrey. I am with the rest of the Team and we are on board the ship back from the field trip. I am using the ships magic core to send a telepathic signal to you."

"Telepathy? I don't understand. How is that possible? I thought I was dead."

"No, you seemed to have just fallen unconscious."

"Really? I was under attack by a group of infected students and I thought for sure that the last hit I saw would have killed me."

"Wake up and see for yourself." Aubrey tells me as I open my eyes.

Clara Kaminski is standing in front of me. The three shadowy figures, who were Macy, Adam, and Zach are know all lying unconscious on the floor. She is standing there in her black trench coat with her hands still held in fists. Clara then turns to look at me as she reaches out her hand to help me up.

"How did you get down here if the ship just got here?" I use her hand to pull myself up.

"I jumped from the back of the ship down one of the elevator shafts. More importantly, your arm. Does it hurt?"

Is she actually serious? There is no way that anyone would be able to survive that fall, enhancements or not. Only someone who is a master of enhancement magecraft would even attempt it. I bet if I were to look at the elevator, I would see a relatively large impact crater.

"Thank you, Clara. I am fine for the most part but wait. If you and the rest of the team are here and have seen what is going on, then shouldn't you be on the roof helping Connor?" She lowers her head.

"I know my brother and he can take care of himself right now. Besides, the rest of the team is up in the ship giving him air support." Clara says with the most optimism that she can muster. She knows that even as strong as Connor is… he is still in danger.

"Don't we still need to figure out what is going on with the school's magic core?"

"Yes we do. It is on the other side of the room opposite the entrance."

We approach the core. It looks like a shining object encased in metal machinery and covered by a glass case. A digital screen is on a stand set in front of it. I would guess that it is some kind of control panel for the core. Clara seems to have a better handle on the situation than I do because before I realized it, she is already has her hands on and is operating the control panel to figure out what is wrong with the core. Now that I think about it. Connor's original plan was a little flawed. I mean I have never been down here before, nor have I ever seen or operated the magic core of anything. So what was I really going to do to see what was wrong with it? My usual method of hitting it with a sword until it cooperates probably wouldn't apply very well here.

"What is the status of the core?" Aubrey asks via telepathy.

"So far, nothing major. It just seems like someone tried to tamper with it. Or operated a reboot sequence." Clara replies to Aubrey.

"Can you trace the pattern of the magic that tried to access it?"

"It is a lot of concealed paths and reroutes. You almost wouldn't be able to tell who tampered with it or if they even tampered with it in the first place. It will take a more thorough analysis than this to figure that out. However, there is no possible way that someone could do this by remote access."

"So do you think it was one of the three corrupted students down there?"

"It would have to be, given the information that we currently have. The least we can do now is turn the power back on in the school." She continues to press a sequence of buttons until the rest of the lights in the school come back on.

"Now that the magic core is recovered, the defense systems should start to purge the corruption from the students." Clara says.

"We still have to deal with the corrupted dragon spirit on the roof." Aubrey explains.

"How is Connor holding up out there?"

"We are keeping sustained fire on the dragon to try and distract it and give Connor moments to recover. The dragon doesn't seem to be very… oh no!" Her message cuts out.

"If the dragon downed the ship, then the sudden drop in power would sever the current telepathic connection and minimize the range." Clara says. The rest of the team is still on board. They could end up sustaining serious injury, or even worse…

"Then we need to go help them." I manage to form the words as the anxiety make me choke.

"We will just need to get to the elevators and…"

Her sentence is cut off by the sound of my lower body going numb and me falling to the floor.

"Athenox!" Clara runs over to make sure I am okay.

"I had been overusing leg enhancements to get down her when the power was off, but I didn't think that it was severe enough to cause this. Just go on without me. You need to make sure that Connor and the others are okay." Clara starts to turn and walk away before she stops, picks me up, and throws me over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"As much as I would like to say that I would even know how to take down that dragon or even could defeat it, I can't. And besides that, someone has is going to have to help Mrs. to rescue any injured on board. Connor told me about your fight against the other corrupted spirit. He said that you were able to pinpoint its weakness. You are going to need to do that again." The critical difference between that fight and this one is that I even stood a chance of landing enough hits to find that weakness and I only really noticed it by circumstance.

"If you really believe in me that much, then let's go." She runs out of the room towards the elevator.

*Clara and Athenox reach the roof from the special access staircase in the flight deck. Scene 7.*

"Alright, Connor is just up ahead. I am going to go help Mrs. and the rest of the students at the wreckage." She sets me on my feet.

In the time that it took to get up here, I was able to regain control of my legs. A loud roar emits from the dragon that vibrates the air. Clara turns and runs towards the edge of the roof and jumps off. I start off in Connor's direction. He is currently hunched over and leaning on his sword like he is using it to hold himself up.

I am trying to get to him and close the distance.

15 meters. He looks back at me as he starts to try to stand himself back up to face the dragon.

10 meters. The dragon starts to charge in for Connor. Connor attempts to raise his sword to deflect it. Even with the speed and angle that the dragon is flying towards him, it shouldn't be that difficult to block.

I am 6 meters away and Connor lowers his sword and turns to me. What is he doing? He needs to deflect the dragon, or at least get out of its way. The dragon isn't deterred by this movement and almost accelerates towards him. Connor's face and his figure look defeated, which is very unusual for his character. He has always been so tough and determined. The tired look in his eyes. What would make him give up all of a sudden? After he fought this hard just to protect the school from being destroyed, it doesn't make sense.

As I close in at 3 meters, the unthinkable happens. The dragon lunges its claws into the small of Connor's back. The force of the strike is enough to send fragments of his armor flying and the wound gushes out in a violent spray. Like a marbled statue that has been chipped away at until it reaches the point when it finally shatters. The fragmented scales coming off of his armor reinforce this image. I rush over to Connor as he crumples to the ground.

"Connor! Please be okay! Connor! Just hang on and I will get you out of here! We shouldn't have made you wear yourself out like that. Come on!" He opens his eyes after the impact and looks at me.

"It was only a matter of time, so there isn't any need for you to blame yourself or anyone else." He raises his arm up that is currently holding his sword.

"Athenox, please. Take my blade and protect the school. Protect your teammates and protect your friends." He says as the blood stains his pale face.

"Connor, we need to go. I can't just sit here and watch you die."

"There wasn't really anything that could have been done about it. It was… fate." He says as his voice trails off."

"No. No. No. This isn't right! You didn't deserve this at all!" My mind is overwhelmed by shock as my voice raises to a scream.

He can't be dead. Not him. He was probably the nicest and most straightforward of all of the senior members on the team. He only knew how to fight hard and honest but know he lies there in front of me dead because everyone took advantage of that. We didn't think much of it when he offered to keep pushing himself to fight for everyone's safety. If we could have been faster then maybe just maybe we could have saved him from the dragon spirit that still flies above. The anger and guilt turn knots in my stomach and begin to boil my blood. The dragon begins to make a nose dive towards me. I grab Connor's sword in my left hand and leap back before the dragon lands full force on Connor causing more blood to gush out from his dead body. My magic circuits start to glow a vicious red tint as my vision is blurring from my own rage. My ears ring and it becomes nearly impossible to focus on anything else but one thing. Killing the dragon spirit in front of me. The rage is nearly enough to make me blackout, but I don't want to be unconscious for this part. Not like last time when I was fighting Jason Ainsworth. I want to be able to remember the outcome of this fight no matter what. I want revenge. I rush full force to the dragon and start to swing the steel in my hand. Not even stopping when the dragon deflects my strikes. In my angered haste, I didn't notice Mrs. and the other able bodied team mate come up through the roof access entrance.

"Athenox, what…" Upon seeing events that unfolded, Clara drops to her knees. The shock from her grief paralyses her.

"Athenox seems to have been overloaded and is fighting that dragon blind. Eric, Corey, Aubrey, Katlyn, and Luke. Back him up now!"

The five students seem to dash in behind me. Luke and Eric seem to flank the dragon from both of its sides. Aubrey and Eden set up behind them. My legs slip as I evade the jaws of the dragon. Eric dashes to grab me and get out of the way. As soon as he lands I stand back up again and rush forward into the fight. Trying my hardest to cleave through the dragons scales and destroy its existence. The monster knocks me to the side and lets out its breath of shadow and flame that darkens and burns the area. Luke runs in front of me to try and deflect it, but it seems to knock him back and drain all of the light from his sword and shield. Had it not been for Aubrey's and Katlyn's magic defensive spells, then we would have been scorched by the flame from the breath. I manage to stand back up, but Luke has a harder time and can barely move. The force of the flame seems to have crippled his magic. I acted recklessly and got another one of my friends hurt.

"Ah!"

I shout out my rage at the dragon and he makes another advance towards me. I use my anger like a sharpening stone to refine the focus of my blades. A direct approach is out of the question and I wouldn't want another one of my friends to get hurt while saving me. I flood the mana from my blades and start trying to maneuver around the creature to strike the dragon from various angles to find some kind of a weak point. The dragon keeps its attention on me and keeps repositioning itself to block me. I need it to be worried blocking about someone else, otherwise this is going to be impossible to do. I jump around and make the dragon face the school, where Eric and Luke are in front of it and catch the claws from its legs as he tries to slam them down. I am slowly pushed back as I look back at Eric.

"What does he want?" Luke asks Eric.

"If he is overloaded, then he is reacting off of the last sane command or thought he had as if it were instinct, or at least that is what Mrs. has told us." Eric says as he rushes forward towards were I am and changes positions with me.

"So he wants to kill that dragon in whatever way possible, because it killed Connor. If I had to see it, then I don't think that I would be much more operable than Clara, let alone Athenox. However, Athenox's overloading is unlike a typical berserker enhancement in that it seems to make him much more focused and capable. Focused to a point that lets him see past the shock and grief stricken rage to the enemy that is held accountable for the incident that caused his grief. More of a "If you can't get happy, then get even kind of policy"." Eric exclaims as he tries to force the dragon back and land hits on it.

As one of the dragon's claws press against Eric's phantasm weapon they hardly have an easy time holding on to the giant sword, but that was before he empowered it.

"Caladbolg, Rainbow Sword!" As Eric shouts out, the sword in his hands starts to spin and grind against the claw like a drill.

Luke does his best to keep against the other claw and the two hold back the dragon. The dragon roars like it is actually being hurt by Caladbolg. I am not sure how long Eric will be able to keep the empowerment up so I need to move as fast as I can. I try to stab and slice through the shadow covered scales but cannot because they are too thick. The former brilliant light of Balmung seems to have been reduced. Just like when Luke tried to deflect it with its weapons. Whatever this corrupted aura is, it certainly seemed to eat through their light mana. It seems that the dark energy that flows into Caliburn is unaffected. So it seems as if the dark aura is serving as a barrier that destroys light. I just need to… My thought is cut off by the dragon flipping over and then slamming me of the section of the roof where Aubrey is. I pick myself up. Eric is knocked back and looks like he is drained of his mana from empowering for so long against something that was draining his light. Luke was knocked back shortly after.

"Are you okay?" She says to me.

I am of course fine, but wait a minute. If I want to destroy that barrier then I need to find some way to remove it or break it. It is unfazed by light energy. So I have to wonder how effective dark energy would be. I point my sword at the dragon and then look at Aubrey.

"My attacks don't seem to be doing much damage to it. It probably has to be because of those shadowy scales on it." I nod my head yes and keep pointing my sword at it anyway.

"Wouldn't that just be a waste of mana?" She asks me. I nod my head no.

"Hey Katlyn…!" I interrupt her shout across the roof.

"You don't want Katlyn to attack?"

I nod my head no and show her the now dulled Balmung versus the unaffected Caliburn.

"Okay I think I get what you are saying. Since it eats through any holy magic used on it, then you think that if we hit it with dark magic that it will overpower the barrier."

I nod my head yes and jump back in front of the dragon as Aubrey starts to fire a full barrage at the dragon. While the dragon turns away, I try to cut away at the dragon's barrier by using Caliburn only. I look up at Katlyn and nod towards Luke and Eric. She rushes over and starts to try and heal the injuries that they have sustained. After concentrating on one spot, I manage to break through the barrier and start to reach the scales. At this rate, we will be fighting the dragon for weeks. I jump back to gain enough distance to perform a fully empowered strike. I can't really gauge how much mana I have left very well but I hope I have enough. Once the dragon turns to start to focus on Aubrey when her barrage starts to do more damage than me. I raise up my sword and prepare to slam it down on the dragon.

"Caliburn Strike!" I scream as I force the beam of dark energy down onto the dragon.

Its shadowy layer expands before shattering completely. My body starts to feel weak but I charge in once again and open up a flurry of strikes chained together between a series of evasions and blocks. In the midst of blocking I turn around and see Luke and Eric still on the ground. I can tell that they are okay but they will not be able to help me end this fight. So I nod to Katlyn, but she doesn't interpret what that means I want her to do. I then look at Aubrey and nod in Katlyn's direction.

"He wants you to start attacking. Now that the barrier is down, the dragon can be destroyed with light magic." Aubrey says to Katlyn as the three of us keep up a sustained burst attack on the dragon.

They don't seem to be tiring out at all. Then again, they are Senior Caster mages so it must not take much effort for them to perform a simple mana blast projection spell, even if it is on repeat command for an upwards of five minutes. I on the other hand feel my body wanting to start to give out. My right arm is starting to go numb from overuse of mana, which eliminates the possibility that I will be able to fully empower another strike with Caliburn. The dragon seems to be crippled by the damage it is taking from both sides. If I can launch one more really devastating attack on him, then he will be finished. I remember Connor using Balmung fully empowered before, in fact I am pretty sure he used it to knock me out when we were training for Blademaster and it was a massive amount of damage that functions similar to a fully empowered strike from an experienced Excalibur user. He would have killed me ten times over had it not been for the magic field. I take the blade in my left hand and start to chant.

"O great sword of the felling sky demons , Let thee be filled" My shout fills the blade with my mana and the initial orange glow turns darker until it reaches the dark purple color that coats anything that I dump my mana into. I slash upward into the dragon creating arc that carve straight through the dragon spirit. He reaches his limit and shatters into spirit essence and other spirit items. Without a doubt I drained myself, which results in me blacking out and falling to the floor.

*All of Connor's closest family and friends have gathered in the Auditorium of the school for a special funeral assembly. Mrs. Lanslac is giving a speech on the stage. Scene 8.*

"We are gathered here today for an unfortunate event. Yesterday after school, we came under attack by a corrupted spirit and the masses of you don't remember this because you yourselves fell to the corruption. However, it was through the valiant efforts of two students that the school managed to stay intact long enough for the elite combat team to get back from their field trip and provide reinforcements."

Oh please. I wasn't any help in this. The whole plan was Connor's idea and if it wasn't for Clara then I would have failed and been killed by corrupted students. Zachary specifically.

"One Mr. Connor Kaminski and Mr. Athenox Emiya. They both bravely fought for the well being of their peers. We would like to honor them and commemorate Connor for his courageous sacrifice. Giving one's life to help defeat a corrupted spirit isn't a common occurrence in this day and age but that should not lessen its value at all. In fact, we should appreciate this time of rare occurrences for a time with more frequent tragedies is an undesirable outcome that no one would want to hope for. His noble sacrifice saved many, not just in the school but in the city itself." She looks at Clara who is sitting in the front row with her parents.

"And even though it doesn't take away the pain, grief, and sorrow that you feel right now, It shall be said that he will go down as one of Avalon Academy's great heroes and as one of my most respected team members." Mrs. proclaims.

The tears haven't stopped rolling down Clara's face since yesterday and her parents can barely seem to hold it together themselves.

"Through the permission of the Kaminski family, we will now proceed with fulfilling Connor's final wish. Connor had always insisted that he was going to retire from becoming an active combat mage after graduating in his senior year at Avalon Academy."

Seriously? My heart starts to ache. He was just over half a year away from graduating and I couldn't carry myself to the roof any faster to back him up? I couldn't have fixed the school's magic core and saved him. He was almost out of combat forever and I ruined it for him.

"With that known, he had wished to pass on his phantasm weapon core onto another individual who he believed had surprised him and even surpassed his initial expectations from the first time he saw him fight. Someone who he told everyone that they were well deserving and capable of."

He even planned to nobly pass his weapon onto someone on the team? The wrought iron knot in my stomach makes me feel sick with guilt.

"Clara if you could please come up to the stage so that you may properly hand off the weapon to the new recipient." Clara pulls out the sword from under her seat. The slight purple staining is still visible from when I empowered it last night and killed the dragon with. She walks up onto the stage and holds the sword out across her arms.

"Can the new recipient, Athenox Emiya come up on stage?"

I was already feeling bad but now it is much worse. The guilt in my stomach is intensified and the stream of tears starts to flow down my face as I walk up on stage. Because of my nerves, I am very nearly at the point of throwing up from the anxiety.

"Athenox. Please kneel before the temporarily appointed ambassador of the Kaminski family, Clara Kaminski."

I kneel in front of her and she drops the sword into my hands. My pain is beyond containment as I cry out.

"Why me, Clara? Why? Why do I deserve this blade? What did I do to earn it? It isn't like this blade is going to bring him back or anything. Will it?"

In my outburst of despair. Clara does her best to keep it together, especially in front of auditorium full of people.

"Honestly Athenox, I don't know. I know that he didn't intend to give it to you from his coffin but he saw something in you from the moment that we started to examine you for your entry into the team. He was the one who could always keep the seniors unified and on track no matter which one of us disagreed and he did so then also. He was the one who wanted to help Mrs. the most with her research on your rare affinity. He saw so much potential in you but I don't see it. You haven't done anything really successful outside of onetime flukes since before you got your new affinity. If you are an irregular, then I hope that doesn't mean because you are weaker than everyone else. I would like it if you could prove me wrong."

If I wasn't already thinking the same things, then maybe her truthful words might have hurt me more.

"Athenox Emiya, you may now return to your seat."

I pick myself off the floor and walk back to my seat. The sword is still gripped in between my arms.

"At your discretion, you may come up and see the diseased one last time before the Kaminski leaves for their family's funeral procession. Other than that, you are dismissed." Mrs. Lanslac says to the auditorium full of students. I start to get up and walk out of my row of seats but am cut off by the senior members of the team. They slow down to look at me.

"Come on guys! It is time to go to the real funeral, not just the one for public appearance. Besides, after that we can honor his memory by partying. Which is what he would have wanted us to do."

Clara, Aubrey, Katlyn, Corey, and Eric glare at me as they walk by. Their judging looks cut away any form of self-pity I may have built up over the course of time since Connor's death. With that gone another successive burst of saddened guilt eats away at my heart. I try to hold myself together for the rest of the day until I make it home to my dorm room. The emotional weight drops me onto my bed and knocks me unconscious.

*Athenox is having another dream that as usual starts within the same desert that all of his dreams seem to start in. Scene 9.*

I am alone in this desert, as I have been many times before. In a dream that almost seems like a reality. The black night's sky setting the ominous tone for the imagery that is about to occur. Images that don't make sense to me. Images of events that are unfamiliar with only fragments of understanding to go off of.

"Killing at the cost of a life. How does it feel to know that your reckless behavior can only lead you down the path of your own anguish and suffering?" A voice questions and asks about the actions and reasoning of my existence as many voices seem to have done many times before since I started going to school at Avalon Academy.

"I couldn't have made it in time. Connor was already beaten by time I got onto the roof. I saw it in his eyes."

"And maybe in your own twisted reasoning, you could actually believe that lie that others keep telling you. That you were truly helpless to save one of your so few friends. That you were so totally naive to put the pieces together, but I think that you saw ahead and realized the perfect opportunity to selfishly endanger everyone that you cared about for the sake of creating a false image from deep down inside of you. One that would destroy you if everyone really knew. One that you can't even begin to entrust to anybody." The voice continues on.

As the voice continues, two bodies appear amidst the desert sands. The corpses are of the dragon spirit and of Connor Kaminski.

"To show them your hidden reality behind that fake illusionary version of yourself that you use to control the people and maintain their false notions about you, to show them that would be to show them the true unchained monster and murderer that you embody."

"No, that isn't true. I swear." I retort back to the voice.

"Come on now. Look around you."

The scene once again shifts as it had before. Giving way to a bloody scene of an alleyway flooded with corpses that are all too shredded and dismembered to be identified. I freeze and my hands go numb, as I release my grip the metallic clang of a sword as it hits the concrete ground.

"I find your frozen face of agony and shock to be quite amusing as they hide your true emotions, don't they? You think I don't know what you are, Gatekeeper?" As he says those words I sink into the pool of blood as it overflows from the alleyway. I black out, but only temporarily. As when I regain my vision, I am back in that castle that I had been in before, when I was dreaming of using Luke's sword. I am on the floor and I can barely manage to move my body as I try to turn my head and look up. When I finally manage to accomplish the feat, I see before me a courageous knight in full plate armor who is going toe to toe with that shadowy figured dragon. The same one that killed Connor. The same one that I killed in my anger. The knight glimpses at me before turning their attention back to the dragon. Even though the aura of light that the knight is giving off is surely no match for the brooding darkness that pours forth from the dragon, the knight continues to fight anyway. The remaining light from the knight is still brilliant in face of the dragon. It almost makes the knight shine infinitely brighter by comparison.

"Gawain!" A female voice commands from the knight. The knight in question is a female? If I can recall, her body profile looked a little more slender in the armor than I saw in the other knights but I was unsure. That doesn't really matter one way or the other though, except that it seems to make the glowing aura from her a little brighter.

"Yes, my king?" The words flow out of me almost naturally and without much thought or question.

"Can you stand?" Her words have a will with them that seems to make my body agree as I use Excalibur Galantine to put myself upright.

"Yes, your majesty. However, I think that it would be best if we retreat because we have no real chance of winning." I am following along so autonomously that I almost don't notice that

"We can't. This is a threat to the kingdom that we must protect the people from." The selflessness in her voice is apparent. The light from her existence grows.

"But your majesty, I beg of you. Please. If we retreat, then we can regroup and reorganize…"

"Gawain, please!" The strain in her voice becomes amplified as she starts to lose her footing against the creature for a moment and the light nearly flashes out. Somehow the light from her presence compels me to move forward. I rush to her side. I start to draw my sword as I feel the dream start to shift again. Instead of approaching the dragon, I am impaling the blade through the hands of the dragon and into the ground as a bizarre rift opens up from my hands and pulls out a mysterious dark length of metal I then rush to the front of the dragon and toss the spear to that knight king and she propels a giant beam of dark energy through the center mass of the dragon.

"Your efforts are futile and there will be no future for this land. As long as it is run by pathetic humans and a girl who naturally opposed to their existence." The dark voice of the dragon trails off as the beam of dark energy overwhelms the area and causes me to really black out unconscious this time.

*End of Episode 11/12.*


End file.
